


An Endless Horizon

by RebelPaisley



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Abduction, Accidents, Adult Language, Adventure, Angst, Attempted and Unnecessary Blackmail, Auradon politics, Bell of the Ball, Betrayal, Bonding, Bullying, Classism, Cliffhangers, Complete, Confrontations, Coronation, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Crew Dynamics, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cuddles, Dancing, Diplomatic Incidents, Dubious Consent, F/F, F/M, Favors, Fear, Fix-It, Fluff, Getting Together, Guilt, Happy Ending, Healing, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Porn, Insecurity, Intrigue, Jealousy, Love Confessions, Low Self-Esteem, M/M, Magic, Makeover, Making Friends, Misunderstandings, Multi, Nightmares, No Beta we die like vikings, Non-Physical Assault, Not King Adam Friendly Kind Of, Oblivious Pirates, Overprotective Harry & Uma, Panic, Percieved Non-graphic Injuries, Phone sex-ish, Pining, Politics on the Isle of the Lost (Disney), Polyamory, Post-Descendants 3, Prejudice, Puppy Love, Referenced Kidnapping, Reunion, Reunions, Revelations, Road Trip, Romance, Secret Identity, Sexual Situations, Slash, The Mildest of Dubious Consent, Time Shenanigans, Time Travel, United States of Auradon (Disney) Is Not Perfect, Unreliable Narrator, Well-Intended Deception, Wooing Attempts, emotional breakdown, gil-centric, non-graphic murder of small side antagonist, ot10 - Freeform, passing of time, referenced abuse, tags added as we go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:07:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 95,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27841222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebelPaisley/pseuds/RebelPaisley
Summary: It wasn’t that Gil necessarily wanted to travel Auradon without Harry and Uma, it was just that he hadn’t tested well enough to get into Auradon Prep.  So he hit the road with Jay while trying to catch up on his schooling, except King Ben also wanted them to be ambassadors?It was a lot, and Gil didn’t like being separated from his crew, but at least this new version of Jay was nice, and so were the rest of his friends for some reason.  But hey, that was just Auradon, right?  Obviously.  There was no need to look into the non-stop video chats and surprise visits and overwhelming support when their adventures took an unexpected turn.  That was just basic good-guy stuff.  It was all fine.Probably.Also known as: That time Gil and Jay explored the world while also exploring something else, though Gil didn’t figure out that second part until way after the fact.  Still, it worked out in the end :)
Relationships: Ben/Doug/Evie/Jane/Jay/Mal/Carlos de Vil, Ben/Doug/Jane/Gil, Ben/Evie/Gil/Harry Hook/Jay/Mal/Uma/Carlos de Vil, Ben/Evie/Gil/Harry Hook/Jay/Mal/Uma/Carlos de Vil/Doug/Jane, Ben/Gil (Disney: Descendants), Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Doug/Evie (Disney: Descendants), Evie/Jay/Mal/Carlos de Vil, Gil/Harry Hook/Uma, Gil/Jay (Disney: Descendants), Jane/Carlos de Vil
Comments: 242
Kudos: 92





	1. Just Like I Dreamed They’d Be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GENERAL WARNING – Low Self-Esteem. I can only tag it once, but man, Gil spends most of this story not thinking all that highly of himself. Things will get better over time, but I thought it would be best to give a general warning of his low self-esteem for the first half of the story.

Here was how it started:

Once upon a time Gil had been banished from the Chip Shoppe for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time and that was okay – well, it wasn’t, but Uma usually cooled down after a couple of hours so he’d just been killing time, wandering the back streets of the Isle on his way back to the ship. He’d been paying enough attention not to get jumped (because even though he was strong, he wasn’t smart, and the craftier gangs liked to take advantage of that) but not enough attention to see the guy before he bumped shoulders with him, and after a reflexive check of his pockets (to find that the guy wasn’t a thief), Gil actually looked him over.

Dude was tall and thin and wore something nicer than anything Gil had ever seen – sort of like one of Evie’s creations or Uma’s pretty outfits – and he looked at Gil like he was a ghost. 

Which for the record, he wasn’t.

“Flynn?” Tall guy asked. 

It wasn’t the first time Gil had been mistaken for someone else, and though he felt the bitter sting that came from not being what someone wanted, it still hurt, even if this hurt came from a stranger. 

“Nope.” Gil shrugged, plastering on a smile. “Oh hey, I think I know you.”

And for once Gil was right because the tall thin guy was the _king_ , who looked at Gil with sad eyes for whatever reason, which made Gil just sort of wish he actually _was_ that Flynn guy, if only to be friends with a king. It was definitely not a thing someone like Gil could manage, but it was a nice thought. 

After that there was kidnapping and not escaping the Isle and more puppy eyes from the king – _weird_ – and then an adventure _out of_ the Isle and the barrier went down and everyone was supposed to live happily ever after.

And they would. It’d just take longer than they’d expected.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“Were ye gonna tell me you were leaving?” Harry stormed into their shared room at Auradon Prep with all the fury of a rising storm, his eyes flashing in a particular threat of danger that usually meant someone was about to get hooked.

Gil, who had been trying to sort through the adventuring gear Queen Belle had gotten him (it was slow going because he kept getting overwhelmed or confused and then overwhelmed all over again because he was pretty sure his dad had been just as intensely abusive towards the queen as he had to Gil in the brief time they had known each other), quickly dropped the um- belt (a utility belt? It had a lot of pockets), to stare at him in confusion. “…what?”

“Ye heard me!” Harry’s features were twisted in an expression of fury Gil hadn’t seen since Ursula had last worked Uma past the point of exhaustion and still demanded more, since his dad had been particularly ornery about Harry being first mate instead of captain. It wasn’t one Gil was used to being aimed at him, but he supposed it had just really been a matter of time, considering how often he tended to say the wrong thing. Gil was bad at reading social cues, it was one of the reasons he was terrified of the ambassador aspect of his new ‘job’.

“Um…” Gil struggled to remember the beginning of the conversation. “Yeah, of course. But we haven’t, you know…”

Gil actually wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence, but Harry was smart and creative and could usually figure these kinds of things out on his own.

“What, charted a proper course yet?” Oh. Yeah, that was a great way to end the sentence. Harry leered into Gil’s personal space, making him shift back on the bed. “Haven’t finished making plans with Jay?”

“Exactly,” Gil chirped. “We’re still not sure when we’re leaving-”

“With Jay!” Harry repeated, waving his hookless hand in a mad flail (he had surrendered it as one of the conditions for attending Auradon Prep, but Uma had hidden it using her new magic, leaving it cloaked in Harry’s bedside table). “You’re gonna go exploring with that pompous asshat!”

“He’s not like that anymore,” Gil pointed out, knowing that if he didn’t interrupt Harry now, he’d be listening to him rant all evening. “Remember? He saved you-”

“ _Once!_ ” Harry snarled, as though Jay pulling Harry out of the way of a frothing beast person was something to scoff at. Maybe it was. “And what about all the stuff he did before?”

Gil flushed, wishing he was dumb enough to forget all the times Jay had stolen from him as an ‘easy mark’ back on the Isle – whether it was moldy bread or the protection money Gil was supposed to collect for the Wharf Rats. There was a reason Harry had taken over the duty that should have been beneath him. “He chose good, Harry. He’s not gonna steal from me again.”

Gil hoped.

“Ye barely know him,” Harry pressed. “And you’re gonna spend a year- what, exploring the unknown?”

“And gathering support for the VKs.” Gil hunched his shoulders self-consciously, feeling small. With the barrier down, Ben and Evie were all about ‘reforming the prison system’ or whatever, and it was Gil and Jay’s job to make that easier or something.

Gil had stepped into this wanting to see a penguin; he hadn’t really expected all the undeserved responsibilities that came with being an official explorer. He should have figured there’d be a cost, but again, he wasn’t all that smart.

“I’m gonna review the uh… basics while I’m gone too,” Gil added, which was basically the Fairy Godlady’s way of saying that Gil’s reading and writing levels weren’t good enough as they were to qualify him for Auradon Prep. That Doug guy had put together a learning system for him to follow while he and Jay traveled the world which, assuming Gil wasn’t past the point of hope, would get him ready to attend school with Uma and Harry the following year.

He didn’t want to say that failing to do so would leave him in the special ‘remedial’ classes that so many Isle kids were being funneled to, that he’d be separated from them _again_ , though this time it wouldn’t be by choice. The trip, at least, saved him some face. Not that Gil cared about those kinds of things, but he didn’t want the rest of the crew – for Harry and Uma – to look bad because of him.

“And Jay’s gonna help ye?” Harry seemed stuck on that fact, and all at once Gil had to fight down the urge to ask Harry to join them. Because Harry didn’t _need_ a year to catch up on basics, or worse, he’d probably say no anyway, because he’d never pick Gil over Uma and he really didn’t like Jay, who was sort of non-negotiable.

“…I guess?” If he ever learned about it, Jay would probably help. He seemed like that kind of guy. Not that Gil wanted to tell him in the first place. “Ben’s getting us phones, so I’ll be able to call you and Uma.”

“From your ship,” Harry drawled. “While you’re exploring. With Jay.”

Maybe Gil wasn’t the only one feeling dumb this evening because Harry seemed to be repeating himself a lot.

“And gathering support,” Gil reminded him patiently, like Uma did when she was in a good mood and Gil hadn’t broken any serving trays.

“With _Jay_.”

“With Jay,” Gil agreed, trying to be solemn. He didn’t know what else to say.

Harry stared at him for a hard moment, as though urging Gil to try and learn some quiet sort of lesson and it hurt, because if there was one thing Gil was bad at, it was coming up with a solution on his own.

The familiar expression of disappointment didn’t cross Harry’s features, but whatever he wore was just as devastating. He left with a dramatic billow of his coat, never to be seen until Gil and Jay’s departure date.

-:-:-:-:-:-

The path to Doug’s window was second nature by this point, which made navigating the shadows of the school’s courtyards calming instead of a trial, like the repetitive motion of wiping down the tables at the Chip Shoppe or practicing combat with Gonzo. It was cool now that summer was drawing to a close, but Gil had access to clothes that weren’t tattered and jackets that were actually warm now, so it wasn’t an issue. He had been given a couple of blue and yellow jackets from the school, bright things that Harry liked to make fun of, but as much as Gil loved them, he had chosen to wear a sturdy, brown jacket Uma had found him that night. It was better for sneaking through the shadows at least, and there wasn’t much point in wearing the colors of a school he couldn’t get into anyway.

There was a large bush at the base of Doug’s window that was tall enough for Gil to crawl under, so he squirmed his way through the fresh mulch that Gil still didn’t quite understand the purpose of. It smelled good though, earthy in a way that wasn’t rotten, and he liked to burrow down into it, imagining he was some kind of creature that lived off the land. He kept his back to the school, the last remnants of warmth in the stones seeping through his jacket as he curled up tight, keeping his ears open for Doug. 

Gil had discovered on accident that the musician liked to keep his window open as he worked late into the night, which was a truly Auradon concept Gil guessed, but one he was happy for. He liked listening to Doug as he rambled to himself. He liked to pretend that he was getting smarter just by association, as though he could soak up Doug’s intellect just by being nearby even if he didn’t understand what he was talking about most of the time. Tonight wasn’t any different, but Gil didn’t mind. It was better than being alone.

He had almost drifted off to sleep when he heard the sound of hard knocks on wood break Doug’s ramblings, and whatever survival instincts Gil had managed to culminate had him blinking awake as Doug answered his door, Gil struggling towards full coherency in time to hear Jay and Evie’s voices.

“ _Is everything okay?_ ” Doug asked, voice echoing clearly from the window. He must be right by it.

“ _It’s about the same_ ,” Jay grumbled, further away. Maybe on one of the beds? “ _Carlos is still avoiding me_.”

“ _He doesn’t like change_ ,” Evie offered, and Gil could picture her sage deliverance, pale fingers carding through Jay’s long hair. “ _You know that. He’ll come around. Mal will make him come around_.”

“ _Yeah, it’s just…_ ” A sigh.

“ _You want him to come around on his own_ ,” Doug surmised, and it was cool that Doug could do that with other people, could take the words they didn’t say and form them into something that made sense.

“ _Exactly_ ,” Jay huffed. “ _This is a good idea. We **all** think it’s a good idea and it needs to be done anyway, so I don’t know why he’s making such a big deal over it._”

“ _Give him time_ ,” Evie soothed, voice a tender caress that made Gil shiver.

“ _We don’t **have** time_,” Jay snapped. This was followed by the sounds of rustling and booted feet stalking across the floor, winding a familiar pattern of anxious energy. “ _I thought since this was our last night here-_ ” When Jay cut off he was closer to the window, closer to Doug if the other teen hadn’t moved, his voice cutting clear into the night. “ _This needs to be done_ ,” he said quietly. “ _So why does it feel like a mistake?_ ”

Gil’s heart pounded furiously in his chest, blood rushing to his ears because Jay wasn’t the one who was supposed to be doubting, this was _Jay’s_ idea. If he didn’t want to go through with it, what would that mean for Gil? Would they cancel the trip? Would he have to go _alone_?

That, Gil thought, might be a worse fate than being stuck in remedial classes, because if there was one thing Gaston had let him know besides how much a failure he was, it was how incapable Gil was of functioning on his own-own-own. He’d had to latch onto Uma and Harry to survive the Isle and he latched onto Jay to survive Auradon, but Gil wasn’t enough by himself. He would never be enough, and maybe Jay knew that.

“ _It isn’t_ ,” Doug’s voice was firm and sure, the same way it had been after Gil had taken that basic entry test, when him and Fairy Godmother kept pushing paper after paper in front of the second mate before they realized just exactly how little Gil knew. “ _This is a change, but it isn’t a bad one, Jay. Carlos might think it’s one now, but eventually he’s going to regret avoiding you. Why don’t we just call it an early night, okay? We’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow_.”

“… _okay_.”

The hinges of the window creaked as they closed them, muffling the voices inside. It left Gil alone again, alone and scared-scared-scared but it was okay, he could pretend. Pretend that he was inside with them because they weren’t even ten feet away, and he could focus on the sound of crickets and wind and think _safe_ instead of _pain_ because the Isle didn’t have anything nearly as benign as that.

He held still and waited for sleep to find him again, humming one of Doug’s dwarven tunes to himself until his eyes could no longer stay open.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“Hey.”

Gil blinked awake slowly, gaze adjusting to the soft rays of sunlight that filtered through the leaves of his bush. Or, Doug’s bush.

“Gil?” the voice tried again, delicate but sure, and eventually Gil realized the voice belonged to none other than Mal herself, who was crouched low on the outside of his- of _Doug’s_ bush, staring at him through the branches.

“…Hi?” Gil rubbed a hand over his eyes, trying to ward off the silt that had built up overnight. Maybe he should have brought one of those extra jackets; he could have used it as a pillow. Could have saved him the slight crick in his neck, at least.

“Gil.” That voice made Gil flinch because that was- oh, that was the king. King Ben was crouched down next to Mal and they were- right, he shouldn’t be here. Why couldn’t his brain wake up faster? “Why are you sleeping in a bush?”

“Um…” Gil smiled away his panic because it was all he could ever do. “I got lost.”

“You got lost,” Mal repeated.

“Yep.” The one good thing about being dumb was that he could say stuff like that and it was believable even when it shouldn’t be. “I went for a walk and forgot how to get back to my room and this bush is super comfy so…” He shrugged, then realized he was still curled on his side and started the small task of getting _out_ of the bush. “Are you guys lost?”

“Nope.” Mal emphasized the ‘p’, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly as Gil dragged himself out of the branches and mulch. “I was actually on my way to find you.”

“Hey, that worked out!” The two backed up so Gil could shift to his feet, brushing away the dirt that clung to his clothes as though that were always his intention, and not just something he needed to keep his hands busy. “Because I am here.”

“Is everything okay?” King Ben’s brows were furrowed, his eyes all soul searching and painfully good – same as they had been back when they had kidnapped him all those months ago, when he had tried to negotiate with Uma – and just like then, the concern made Gil uncomfortable, because he knew he wasn’t worthy of it.

“He’s fine, Ben.” Mal’s gaze never left Gil, her expression unreadable. “He just got lost.” She started forward, fingers tracing Gil’s shoulder before she hooked her arm through his elbow, the way all those noble lords that walked with the ladies around the school did. “Why don’t you go on without us? I can take things from here.”

King Ben’s eyes were on Mal, some kind of silent communication passing between them, the same Gil saw Uma and Harry use when they were particularly in sync. “If you’re sure.” His arms folded behind his back carefully, head reclined ever so slightly in the king’s equivalent of a bow. “I’ll see you two later. Mal, Gil.”

“Bye Ben.” Mal fluttered her fingers in a coy tease.

Gil tried to copy it with his free hand, and sort of succeeded. “Bye, King Ben.”

“It’s just Ben, Gil,” King Ben reminded him.

“Of course.” Though Harry would actually hook him if Gil ever dared to be so familiar, would likely already be mad at Gil for standing this close to Mal, even if he hadn’t initiated it. “Bye!”

“He is hopeless,” Mal sighed as they watched King Ben’s retreating back, and then, before Gil could ask what that meant, Mal continued, “You haven’t eaten breakfast yet, right?”

“Is this one of those questions you ask even if you know the answer?” Because she had literally just woken Gil up.

Well, maybe he had eaten earlier and fallen back asleep.

Mal snorted. “Yes, that was rhetorical. Come on-” She patted his arm. “Evie has presents for you.”

“And breakfast?”

“And breakfast,” Mal confirmed with a toss of her hair. She pulled him forward, stepping into the light like she belonged there, like he belonged with her, and Gil-

He did what he did best.

He followed. 

-:-:-:-:-:-

“Gil!” Evie’s smile was wide and inviting when Mal pulled him into their shared room, the space cluttered with trunks and enough sewing materials to make Harry green with jealousy. Envy? Both, probably. Gil wasn’t sure why she was in the dorm when she had a perfectly good cottage apparently, but Gil guessed it was for a shorter commute. “I haven’t seen you around lately.”

“Yeah, I’ve been… busy.” Panicking, and struggling to memorize maps with Doug, because even though he couldn’t really read all of them he didn’t forget pictures. The dwarf kid had also reviewed the basic behavior Gil’d have to use with the first few sets of royalty they’d be visiting, with constant assurances that he would talk Gil through the rest over video chat. 

At this point, Gil owed Doug roughly more than he could ever repay, and even though the other teen had assured Gil it was fine, Gil wasn’t one to have debts if he could help it. He’d start a treasure stockpile for Doug while they were exploring, just like he would Uma and Harry and his Uncle LeFou. It was the least he could do, since Gil couldn’t be with him to act as his muscle.

“That’s understandable,” Evie allowed, ushering Gil towards a table laden with pastries and fruit. Gil noted a couple different bowls exclusively dedicated to grapes and found himself grinning, because even if he had been introduced to other fruits, they were still his favorite. “With the trip and all. Sit. Eat.” She nudged him into a chair and then she was moving again, folding up a set of clothes from the pile on her bed.

Mal prodded one of the grape bowls towards him before she started pouring tea, a floral smelling pale liquid that beat any of the ‘herbal remedies’ the Isle had by a landslide. Gil obediently ate the grapes, watching the way Mal’s pale fingers fixed their tea, sugar and honey and a little cream (honey, they had _honey_ here and Gil wanted to hoard it all, knowing it couldn’t spoil).

“You excited for the trip?” Mal poured his tea into a stone mug that was distinctly out of place with the rest of the tea set. 

They had already learned through trial and error how poorly Gil mixed with the delicate glassware. This mug was firm, and probably wouldn’t break under Gil’s fingers, which was really all he could ask for. 

“Yeah. Sort of.” Gil swallowed his grapes and reached for a pain au chocolat, something he had only ever heard of on the Isle from his Uncle LeFou. He loved them almost as much as grapes and honey, though he tried to eat them sparingly, to maintain the specialness. “The exploring part, definitely.”

Mal snorted. “Yeah, that’s how Jay feels too.” She handed him his mug and settled down in her own chair, kicking her feet up on an empty seat as she reached for a bowl of strawberries. “Ben and I already made the rounds with most of the families, but with the barrier coming down, each of the kingdoms could use a little more attention.”

“Yeah, but shouldn’t you, I dunno-” Gil ducked his head, fingers twisting in his napkin. It was cloth and blue and about as pretty as everything else was at this school. “Get someone better to meet with them? Like, Evie-” The princess looked up at the sound of her name, a soft smile spreading across her face. “I don’t think anyone could _not_ like her.”

“First of all, you and Jay are more than good enough to meet with some royals,” Mal drawled, staring at him with narrowed eyes. “And secondly, Evie’s needed here.”

“Oh.” Right. Every person had their job. Jay’s and Gil’s was to be out of the way. And maybe find some penguins.

Mal sighed. “Gil,” she set down her strawberry, reaching over the table to wrap a hand around his wrist. “Ben and I know you can do this. And if we think you can do it, shouldn’t you?”

Maybe? But no, because Harry didn’t think he should and Uma was so busy Gil hadn’t been able to see her – but nothing good would come from _saying_ that.

So he smiled. “I guess so,” he allowed, taking a huge bite of his sweet bread. The delicate chocolate wasn’t enough to distract him, but it was good, and Gil hadn’t had much good in his life. He savored it while he was able to.

The rest of their breakfast passed in silence, Evie humming a gentle tune while Mal seemed to be lost in thought, sipping on her tea almost absently.

Eventually, Evie cleared her throat. “If you’re done, the shower’s ready for you.”

It took Gil a few seconds to realize she was talking to him.

“What?” He looked to Mal, but she didn’t seem surprised by this, her gaze focused on him, as though reading his reaction.

“She’s got new clothes for you,” Mal explained. “Clean clothes which should go on a clean body.”

It wasn’t explicitly stated, and Gil was glad for that much, that she didn’t spell out the fact that he had been sleeping in the dirt all night. 

“Okay.” Gil nodded like he knew the plan all along. “I’ll, um-”

“Here.” Evie pressed a bundle into his hands. There were towels and some clothes. “We’ll wait for you out here.”

“Okay,” Gil repeated, and then went into the Lion’s den.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Before Gil had betrayed Harry by planning to explore the unknown without his permission, the first mate had helped Gil figure out how to use the fancy showers that came attached to their shared room. On the Isle, cleaning normally came down to a bucket and a rag near the back of the ship, taking turns keeping watch so you could scrub the majority of the filth away (unless he was back home and dad was determined, dunking him in water more-more-more because he should be clean, he should be beautiful, and how could he be beautiful if he couldn’t take care of himself?). Here, there was water to spare and it came down like rain, warm and clean. Gil loved the showers as much as he feared using them, but he was able to turn Evie’s on without much of a problem. 

There were little shelves inside the stall, bottles evenly space all marked with large print. ‘Shampoo’ was for hair, and it went first, even though ‘condi-something’ started with a ‘c’ and _that_ was first in the alphabet (Gil liked the song, though he got confused after ‘L’) and was _also_ for hair. There was ‘body wash’ which was soap, Harry had learned (from Uma, who had gotten it from Jane) and that was for everything else, but Evie had another bottle that was ‘face wash’, and Gil guessed that was separate? 

Everything had a woody sort of smell, like ivy and smoke and Gil wanted to roll in it, would have if he wasn’t embarrassed about being naked in someone else’s bathroom. _Evie’s_ bathroom.

The clothes Evie had given him turned out to be underwear and a thin t-shirt – unlike his ratty boxers, these shorts were tight and dark blue, like Evie’s hair. He kept a towel around his neck to keep his hair from dripping all over the clothes, putting on a smile to hide his discomfort. The last time he had been this bare in front of someone it had been Harry, tending to one of his wounds after a fight with a rival crew. Gil was fine, he always healed fast, but Harry had been adamant about checking him over because useless crew members were no good to him in the long run.

By the time Gil stepped back into the room, Evie had gained another visitor. Unfortunately, that visitor was Carlos.

“There you are!” Evie said, as though she and Mal were not both posed over Carlos who seemed to be cornered at the breakfast table, one knee drawn up towards his chest. “Here, I need you to try this on.”

She ushered Gil towards her desk, though the distance couldn’t quite hide Mal’s continued mutters low in Carlos’ ear. 

He knew he was imagining the feel of interested gazes on his back as he put on the offered pants, but Gil flushed anyway, ducking his head to make a show of examining the garment. These pants were a durable brown like his previous outfit, though outfitted with plenty of zippered pockets for secure storage. The overshirt had its own set of buckles and straps – not enough to hold a candle to Harry but enough to make him seem… adventurous? He guessed? The short sleeves were edged with blue and yellow, as was the collar and belt. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to make Gil smile, just a pop of something to make him… more, he guessed. Just more. 

“Is the fit good?” Evie nudged him into her desk chair, a large mirror propped up in front of them. “Do you have a comfortable range of movement?”

“Um…” Gil still got mixed up when they asked questions like that. Most of his concerns came from having clothes that didn’t have holes in them. “There’s no pinching?”

“Is that a question?” Carlos’ voice cut into the conversation, cool and unreadable.

“Nope.” Gil shook his head, pausing when Evie began running her fingers through his hair, working the tangles out like it was a thing they did. That anyone did.

Even Gaston hadn’t bothered with Gil’s hair, only left him a comb and the threat that it’d better be perfect by the time he got back, and it almost never was.

Gil hated his hair, hated how it was so pale and blond compared to his father’s dark locks. It looked nothing like Junior’s or Trois’ hair, and his dad never let him forget it, scowling as he yanked Gil around by the light tresses.

It was his Uncle LeFou that helped him after those bouts of failure, helping Gil find a bandana he could hide his hair under, petting his head to help ease the pain away. It was nothing like what Evie was doing now, but it was close, definitely caring, and it made Gil’s throat feel tight at the thought of it. 

“Not a question,” Gil continued with a swallow. Like everything else, Evie was careful with his hair, her fingers rubbing gentle circles along his scalp that made him shudder. “They fit great.”

“Good.” Evie smiled at him in the reflection of the mirror. “They’re not too loose?”

“Doesn’t look like it,” Carlos muttered.

“ _Stop_ ,” Mal ordered, and then Evie was tapping Gil’s shoulder, getting his attention back.

“No,” Gil managed as she began to brush out his hair. “No, they’re just right.” 

“Good,” Evie repeated. “So, I was thinking a low pony. Does that work for you?”

“Okay,” Gil said, though he would have agreed to anything if only she kept messing with his hair, kept giving him that easy affection that made him want to melt into her hands. He wanted to ask her why she was doing this, what they were _getting_ out of it, but the words wouldn’t come.

Instead he said nothing, soaking up the feel of gentle fingers and Mal’s low grumbles, Carlos’ tense silence and the faint smell of trees and chocolate.

-:-:-:-:-:-

To be honest, Gil hadn’t expected anyone to see them off.

Which was stupid, because even if he was like, expendable, Jay was the sports superstar and dancing king of his school, so people would come for him. So really, Gil hadn’t expected anyone to be there for _him_ specifically, and that might be true, but everyone who showed up for Jay was too nice to exclude Gil, so he got his share of goodbyes as well.

King Ben was there, because this was his idea, and Mal was standing by his side, her arm hooked through his with a level of ease that made Gil’s stomach hurt. She rolled her eyes at Jay’s excitement but offered Gil a small grin, her gaze lingering on his until he was forced to look away, feeling uncertain.

Evie was there, cooing over the clothes she had gifted them and adjusting straps with practiced ease. From what Gil understood she had started making new clothes for Jay and just… hadn’t stopped, so Gil had gotten a new wardrobe by extension. Back on the Isle, that would have been a formal way of claiming Gil as one of her own – and by extension Mal’s – but out here their clothes were ‘uniforms’ funded by Ben, and it was part of their job, so maybe Gil belonged to Auradon? 

He remembered the bold flashes of color that had flitted through the marketplace when Mal and her crew were wreaking havoc – and while none of them had anything on the stunning turquoise of Uma’s braids or the patchwork red of Harry’s coat, carefully accumulated piece-by-piece – he couldn’t help but long for it, for something greater than the muted browns that faded him into the background. It was Gil’s job to be overlooked so the enemy didn’t know they were outnumbered until too late, but he wondered what it was like to be as bold and unrelenting as the others. What it would taste like to be known and _feared_.

The clothes Evie had made him were still mostly brown, but there were accents of blue and yellow – and the occasional pop of red that he’d trace his fingers over, thinking of Harry. They were made by her but he wasn’t _hers_ , and to be safe, Gil kept the bullhead necklace Uma had given him close to his chest, never took off the moldy-looking brass ring Harry had tossed his way when the first mate was making room in his chest for better treasure. It marked Gil as theirs even if they were as faded as the rest of his wardrobe, and he treasured them above all else. Even if they hadn’t come to see him off and Evie was cheerful and warm and bright, fingers grazing his shoulders as she adjusted his collar just _so_.

Carlos was standing next to Evie with Jane, only managing to smile when one of the girls elbowed him, otherwise staying quiet. 

Right. Gil was essentially stealing his roommate, so he guessed he could understand the frustration. Carlos was – and had always been – a bit of an enigma for Gil. He excelled in everything Gil failed at, was cunning and smart and focused – good enough to run with Mal’s crew on wits alone. By way of smarts, Carlos was on an entirely different level from Gil, and it was hard to ignore that when the other teen seemed so dismissive of him. Then again, most people were dismissive of Gil. 

Honestly, there were worse things. They all knew the negative cost attention could bring you.

(Gil would rather his father forget him than hold him in his sights, would rather his brothers were too bored than to try and drag Gil back home. There was nothing he could do that would ever be enough for any of them, which made Uma’s ship a blessing even if Gil had never really been made for piracy. It was the one thing he had forced upon himself that had stuck, because he needed Uma’s brightness and Harry’s fire and the safe-safe-safety that came from large numbers and Gaston might have been a hunter but he wouldn’t dare set one foot on the rotting docks, let alone a gangplank, to drag Gil back home.)

Jane tried to make up for Carlos’ silence with her own shy smiles – Jane, whose mother had been stone and who had shrunk into Gil for comfort, her delicate hand braced on his elbow as though the contact would keep all the wicked witches away. Jane, who didn’t know him but hadn’t dismissed him, had turned to him for protection without the belief that he would fail. 

Gil liked Jane but she was sort of like one of those fancy teacups – beautiful and delicate and sure to break in his hands the moment he dared to approach closer than he should – so he tried to keep his distance, even when she was the one seeking him out for harmless things, like lunch or shopping trips. Her eyes had dimmed the few times he had managed to evade her, as though she were actually disappointed, but Gil knew this was better in the long run. For both of them.

“Just… be careful,” Carlos offered, not quite meeting Jay’s eyes. “And call.”

“Every day,” Evie added. “At least one of us.”

Gil wondered if ‘one of us’ included King Ben now, because Mal’s crew had always been close – always _shared_ what they won. It was something Uma was both disgusted and envious over, because sharing was so decidedly good but the crew shared everything because they were family, and what was the point of having something if you hoarded it like a dragon? 

If King Ben was ‘one of them’ then Jane had to be too, and maybe Doug? He hovered beside Evie, and despite being clad in light pastels he could have faded into the background without even trying. Doug wasn’t threatening, but he had looked at Gil and thought ‘strong’ – had thought ‘comfort’, and sometimes late at night Gil would think about how he had been chosen to take care of Doug and Jane, how he had been _trusted_ , and maybe it was because he was less intimidating than Harry or less necessary than the others but it still mattered to Jane and Doug, who mattered to Carlos and Evie and they hadn’t blinked twice. Either they didn’t care about Jane and Doug all that much or they thought Gil was capable, and sometimes that was enough to get him through his basic spelling tests when Uma’s smile and Harry’s laugh just wasn’t enough.

“If you get injured, I will be mad,” Mal’s voice was a low purr that rippled through Jay with a small shudder, and beside Mal, Ben’s smile tugged wider. “Gil-” That intense gaze turned on him. “Make sure he doesn’t get hurt.”

“O-Okay.” Gil flushed, hoping he didn’t sound as breathless as he felt because she trusted him, an obvious thing that even Gil couldn’t miss, and no one had laughed or snickered or looked like that was impossible. “Got it, your um- evilness,” he said, managing an awkward salute. 

Jay, Mal, and Evie laughed, Carlos following a second afterwards when Evie nudged him again.

“I want to hear from you too, Gil,” Evie said, and Gil knew that his dad would go on about Queen Belle’s beauty until the day he died, but honestly she had nothing on Evie, who was poised and polished and _kind_ , who offered icebreakers and gumballs instead of insults. It was a beauty that radiated from the inside, and Gil felt uneasy basking in the glow of it.

“Me too,” Mal decided. “You can keep Jay honest.”

“As though I’m not honest,” Jay huffed, followed by an immediate frown at the onslaught of disbelieving looks. “As though I’m not honest, _now_.”

“Hazard of the profession, I’m afraid,” Mal drawled. Her eyes turned back to Gil again, and from this close he could see specks of green in her irises. “So you’ll call?”

“All of us?” Jane added. 

It even didn’t seem forced.

Gil shifted awkwardly under the attention. “Sure. I mean, I’ll try.”

Carlos muttered something like ‘ _Of course you will_ ’ but it was cut off by the arrival of Uma and Harry.

Gil couldn’t have missed them if he tried – he was too attuned to the chaotic forces of his captain and her first mate to ever be able to ignore them. For too long they had been a force of stability-comfort-strength, a guiding light he knew he could follow even when they banished him. Because Gil might be dumb but he was strong and Uma was too practical to ignore that, and Harry was too bewitched with their captain to deny her anything, so he’d learned to deal with Gil and Gil had learned to love them – at least, as much as he could love someone.

(He had heard whispers in the market when he was little about how Gaston only had love for himself – maybe had some to spare for Junior and Trois but Gil had never felt it, and he hoped maybe if he didn’t love himself he could spare some for others, someone who deserved it, and if Uma and Harry didn’t, Gil didn’t know who _did_. Because Uma had been lost to them for months but she had been trying to find them a way out, and Harry had been listless and frantic without her but he had never wavered from his crew, because he was a good captain and deserved more than he knew. They certainly deserved more than Gil’s love, but it was all he had to offer them, so they had it just the same.)

“Did we miss the party?” Uma asked, turquoise braids seeming to glow under the soft Aurodon sunshine as they shifted across her shoulders. 

Gil wanted to take those braids between his fingers and test the softness but he knew better – if Jane was a teacup then Uma was silk, beautiful but easily stained under Gil’s grubby fingers. 

Harry followed behind her with an easy smile, as though he hadn’t been avoiding Gil for the past two weeks. As though Gil hadn’t resorted to sleeping outside Doug’s room because the silence had gotten to be too much and the dwarf kid had a habit of leaving his window open when he researched late into the night, mumbling to himself while quiet music hummed in the distant background.

It hurt to see Harry as much as it helped, and for lack of knowing what to do, Gil went with his default and smiled, because eventually that would make him happy, and this was supposed to be a happy moment.

“Can’t miss the party if we brought it with us,” Harry drawled, offering Evie a sly wink that had Mal rolling her eyes. “Ready to go, Gilly-boy?”

Was Gil ready to part with the people who had been his one constant since childhood? No. His heart thumped in his chest just thinking about it. Losing Uma for those few months had been hard enough; at least then Gil had Harry.

Now he was leaving both of them, the only people who thought he had worth, and he was terrified all over again. This was a mistake, but he couldn’t _stay_. He couldn’t leave Jay alone (Jay, who expected Gil to be fearless and enthusiastic and his partner), he couldn’t go to remedial classes and make Uma seem weak, be so close but so far from his friends. He wanted to say no, to leave the dock of the ship that was under his command and beg for Harry’s forgiveness, anything to make the silence of the past few weeks go away, but he couldn’t.

Thankfully, Uma answered for him, looking as sure and strong as she always did. “Of course he is. I trained him.” Her grin turned a little sinister when she aimed it at Jay. “You better bring him back in once piece.”

Jay winked. “‘Course, captain. I will.” 

Harry scowled. “She’s not your captain, you mangy-”

“ _Both_ of you come back in one piece,” King Ben interrupted, cutting Harry off before he could explode into one of his fits, smoothing over the weird tension that brewed between them with the ease of royalty. 

Because he was a king. A king that trusted Gil for some reason.

Maybe not a smart king, then.

“I’ll um… miss you,” Gil managed, pitching his voice low so it was just for Harry and Uma while Jay exchanged his own goodbyes. “I’ll take pictures, and call!”

“You’d better.” Uma said it with a smile, but Gil detected the subtle threat in her voice. “I’ll miss you, Gil. Harry-” She elbowed her first mate. “Won’t you miss Gil?”

“Yep.” Harry said it through gritted teeth, managing a tight smile that made Gil’s stomach feel sour. He reached forward, in all appearances testing the fabric of Gil’s new gloves, but his fingers lingered on the thick ring on Gil’s middle finger, tracing the ruined metal. “I’ll miss ye, Fish Bait. Don’t forget about us on your adventures, alright?”

“I couldn’t.” Gil was dumb but not _that_ dumb. “I won’t. I, um…” His throat felt tight and heavy and he didn’t know how to tell them how much they meant to him without giving away how weak he was, because he knew he didn’t mean nearly as much to them, but in that moment he _wanted_ -

“Gil?” Jay’s voice cut in like a savior, keeping Gil from doing anything too stupid. “It’s time.”

“Right.” Gil swallowed, plastering on a smile. He wanted to hug them like he had after he and Harry had escaped the barrier, but this wasn’t a celebration. He wanted to hug all of them, but that definitely wasn’t his place. “Bye, Captain. Harry.”

“Bye, Gil.” Uma said, Harry silent beside her. His gaze was sharp, and Gil had to tear himself away from it, from _them_ , because otherwise he wouldn’t leave.

“You’re captain, now,” Jay said as they walked onto the ship, waving away the others as the gangplank automatically rescinded into the ship. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” Gil swallowed, remembering his captain’s words. “Uma taught me. Can’t be more ready than that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I’ll be honest, this story probably isn’t as well-edited as my other ones. I was in a bit of a rush to finish it despite having another draft that was more ready to be posted, entirely for sentimental reasons. 
> 
> This is the very first Descendants fic I ever worked on. Yep, last August, this is the one that started it all, and I got a good ways through it before I was prodded with a small idea of ‘Hey, what if I find a way to redo the story of Cinderella but like, for Chad’, which was what lead to last year’s anniversary piece, ‘Life is a Masquerade’. I then completely veered off into the realm of Chad and all Chad-like things, leaving this poor draft mostly abandoned despite being like, 60,000 words long. 
> 
> I knew I wanted to finish it, because it was my first, but it had the vital flaw of not featuring Chad (which I didn’t know was a necessity at the time, but apparently it is, and I’m just as confused as anyone else by that at this point), which made it hard for me to get back around to it. 
> 
> Well, for whatever reason, I decided this month that I was going to finish it and it was going to be my anniversary piece, because dang it, the ending’s great. Like, the beginning and second two-thirds of the story were done, and I’m happy with them. So while I had grand aspirations for this being a huge travel/bonding fic for Gil and Jay that branched into other things, eventually it shifted into something else entirely. 
> 
> I’ll admit, chapters 2-5 are mostly transition pieces that I threw together to get to the ‘good stuff’, but overall, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, and I hope you guys enjoy it – a story told by someone who *isn’t* Chad. I know. Le gasp. Had to happen at some point ;) 
> 
> This story will consist of 14 chapters of story content and one chapter of deleted scenes. The deleted scenes will be posted along with chapter 14. As always, please let me know if I missed something in the tags. I prefer to ere on the side of caution with these things, but when you stare at something long enough, it can be easy to lose the details :)
> 
> I update once a week, generally on Sundays, but because things have been so crazy lately, I decided to make an effort to update twice a week. So there will be one update on Sunday and one update on Wednesday/Thursday for now :D 
> 
> Just a heads up – I update the story tags as I go in order to avoid spoilers. So characters, pairings, content warnings – all will be updated in correlation to the appropriate chapter as they are posted. Please check the fore-notes if you see a tag that worries you – that’s where I will have my general warnings for the more intense stuff if they’re needed. 
> 
> Story notes:
> 
> The timing for this is sort of hinky in that I didn’t plan it out all that much, but let’s just say for the entirety of the story, everyone’s a minor. This would take place during their senior year at Auradon Prep, but I’m going to pretend in Auradon that you have to be twenty-one to be considered a legal adult. Just to clear up any gray areas.
> 
> You’d better believe that Mal is telling Carlos to be on his best behavior. They are all on the same side here, now stop fussing. 
> 
> It is my firm opinion that one of Harry’s nicknames for Gil is Fish Bait, which I definitely stole from ‘What’s My Name?’.
> 
> More notes:
> 
> Every year on the anniversary of the first fanfic I posted, I try to upload a new story to mark the occasion. This year marks my tenth year writing fanfiction (my mind is boggled, guys - BOGGLED) For you guys, it means I’ve been posting Descendants fanfics for a year now, and let me just say, it has been a lovely ride. Thank you so much for your generous support!! I didn’t really think there’d be a market for Chad-centric fics, but you guys have been so wonderful and encouraging that I know I’ll be posting for Descendants for a long time yet ^_^
> 
> Generally I post links to my previous anniversary pieces, but it turns out I went overboard with the endnotes this time, so I'll be posting those links along with chapter 2 on the very offhand chance you're interested in power rangers or Chad-centric fics. 
> 
> Until next time :)


	2. Keep on Keeping On

The first few days were rough.

On the ship, Gil and Jay each had a room to themselves, which was amazing because Gil has never had a space that was solely his own. Back on the Lost Revenge he’d _technically_ had his own space – a small box-like room with a hammock and trunk that wasn’t much bigger than the closet his dad used to lock him in as a kid, but the walls were so thin it was easy to know what everyone else was doing. On the Interceptor, Gil’s room was soundproof, and even with the familiar rocking of the sea, Gil had trouble sleeping, unable to ignore how distinctly alone he was.

By day three he was forcing himself to stay awake behind the wheel through sheer willpower, and Jay pulled him aside.

“Dude.” Jay’s hand was warm and heavy on his shoulder, and Gil blamed his lack of sleep on the reason he was aware of that. “You can’t keep going like this. What’s wrong?”

“Um…” Gil got that they were supposed to be open and sharing now, but even for him, admitting an open weakness was still like, hard. “Just. I’m used to more, um- people, when I go to sleep.”

“Oh.” Jay blinked. “That’s right; you stayed with a full crew.”

“Right.” Except in Auradon it had just been Harry and Uma one bed away (and then Doug, but that was different). The school had rules about keeping boys and girls separate, but Uma paid them no mind, sneaking into their shared room every night to bunk with Harry when he hadn’t avoided Gil. Sometimes she even let Gil join them on their small bed, though there was no real pattern as to when that would happen, so Gil had learned not to count on it. “It’s just really quiet. I can’t sleep.”

“You know, most people have the opposite problem.” Jay told him this with a smile, like it was their own private joke, but Gil was too out of it to determine what that meant exactly. “Well, there’s an easy solution. Just sleep in my room.”

“What?” Gil blinked at him. “You don’t mind?”

“Nah, dude, it’s just sleeping.” Jay patted his arm comfortingly, and Gil had to fight from leaning into it because without Harry and Uma his physical contact with other people was totally gone, and he missed it. “Why don’t we find a spot to drop the anchor and call it an early night? We can make it up tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Gil said, because if he had to stand behind this wheel for another hour, he was going to crash the boat into something. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

Jay’s responding smile was worth every awkward conversation.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“Okay, so I’ll just…” Gil motioned vaguely towards the floor and set down his collection of blankets – all fluffy and soft and beautifully hole-less and big enough that Gil didn’t have to scrunch up under them in order to fit, even if he did out of habit anyway.

“What?” Jay frowned at the pile. “No dude, we’ll just share the bed.”

“What?” Gil found himself echoing back. The only people he had shared a bed with were Harry and Uma. Jay- this new nice Jay- wasn’t someone Gil knew very well, but here he was, offering his bed like it was nothing.

“It’s not a problem,” Jay continued, grabbing up Gil’s blanket pile and dumping it on the mattress. “Bed’s huge anyway.”

“It is.” Gil’s dad had a bed back on the Isle that was big enough for two people, but Gil had certainly never been near it. The beds on the Interceptor must have been made for couples or something, because they could fit both of them without much problem. “Right. Good call.”

Jay scoffed, but like, in a friendly way. “Don’t be weird.”

“Okay.”

The joke was on him, Gil was always weird.

At least now he’d be rested too.

He slipped into the bed and didn’t think about it, letting Jay’s close proximity lull him into an easy sleep he desperately needed.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“Well?”

Gil awoke to warm rays of sunlight flitting through the curtains, Jay blinking awake on his side of the bed.

“Did it work?” Jay pressed.

Gil smiled, the days of exhaustion finally coming to an end. “Yeah, it worked.”

“Awesome.” Jay poked his hand out of his blanket cocoon for a tentative high five that Gil happily returned, because he had gotten sleep and he wasn’t alone.

Maybe this trip wouldn’t be so hard after all.

-:-:-:-:-:-

There first stop was Apheliotia, which was ruled by King Hercules and Queen Megara. Jay had said King Ben was throwing them a ‘soft ball’, whatever that meant.

“These guys already like us and support the reforms,” Jay elaborated as they walked up the steps of the Apheliotian palace. “They’re happy we’re here, so this should be easy.”

“Neat,” Gil said, and then promptly let Jay do all the talking, the blond terrified of somehow saying such an extremely wrong thing that the guys that liked them would magically start hating them and they’d get run out of town.

Except… the opposite seemed to happen? Whether Gil was talking or not. They’d gotten a nice reception by the king and queen and then been invited to some kind of evening celebration where they rubbed elbows with the nobility of Apheliotia, and where it would have been intimidating, mostly it was fun because everyone there seemed super jazzed about the fact that they had helped Mal and Uma save Auradon.

“I didn’t really do anything,” Gil tried to explain after the fifth gaggle of Apheliotian ladies approached him, his hands fidgeting in his traditional, drapey toga-thing that constituted as Apheliotian formalwear. Across the room, Jay looked entirely more regal and perfect in his own crimson robes, and somehow he managed to make the ‘essentially a dress’ thing look impressive and mighty. 

Gil himself probably looked like an idiot, but he’d managed not to spill anything onto the silky robes, so he felt like that counted for something.

“So _modest_ ,” the ladies had giggled, and then some of them had asked for pictures, which Gil relented to mostly because it seemed to make them happy, and if they were happy, he probably couldn’t be messing things up.

The party was literally the extent of their diplomatic duties, and King Hercules arranged for them to get a taste of the culture by having a guide lead them around the capital before they headed off to actually explore stuff. Gil enjoyed that part a lot, because he got to taste food he’d never even heard of before, got to eat gyros and baklava and spanakopita, which were these buttery hand pies filled with _spinach_ , which Gil decided he loved just as much as all the other vegetables he’d encountered. 

They were taken to see live theater in the square, and even though it was a drama Gil didn’t understand, he liked the fact that a group of people could come together to tell a story without worrying about getting mobbed by the crowd. That they could put their heart and souls into reenacting things and people would cheer for them, would clap. 

It was amazing, and Gil couldn’t wait to tell Uma about it when he made his weekly update with them. He had decided to make a point not to call too often. He didn’t want to bother them, after all.

They were able to buy some souvenirs (because on top of their food and lodging and transport being taken care of, they were also getting _paid_ ), which allowed Gil to start up his treasure hoards for Uma, Harry, Doug, and his Uncle LeFou. He got a little something for Queen Belle too, to thank her for the gear, but he didn’t know if he’d actually give it to her. She probably had everything she ever wanted – the best versions of them, even.

Well, worst comes to worst, he could give the extra presents to Uma. It wouldn’t be impertinent since she was his captain.

After a day of tours and theater and shopping and food, they dropped their things off at the palace and were dragged into a much more informal celebration in the public square, something that seemed to be a weekend tradition. It was there that Gil and Jay picked up some of the Apheliotian dances, and even though Gil wasn’t good at learning most things, this was hands-on, so it stuck with him in a way little did.

He felt exhilarated by the time they’d gotten back to their suite, and even though they’d both been given their own rooms, Jay still let Gil share his bed with him, which was good because the space was even more intimidating than the ship. The ship was fancy but seemed sturdy, but their rooms in the palace had enough decorative pieces that Gil was afraid of breaking pretty much everything. He spent a lot of time curled up on the couch or on the bed when he was in it, was his point, and it was fortunate that they didn’t spend a lot of time in their suites because Gil was pretty sure Jay hadn’t bought his lie that he was meditating. 

It was the only excuse he could think of, though, and it was fine. He hadn’t broken anything yet, and the room seemed less daunting with Jay, so it was probably all good.

Even though he wasn’t comfortable with the amount of selfies and autographs and stuff people asked for when they’d been out on the streets, the kids looking at Gil like he was something special, Jay seemed to think they were doing a good job. Even the impromptu interview they’d been wrangled into seemed to go well.

“It’s Auradon,” Jay said by way of explanation when they got ready for bed that night. “They love heroes here, and that’s what we are.”

“Right,” Gil said, even if he didn’t really believe it. 

Mostly, he’d been a follower. True, he wanted to be a hero and he’d _sort_ of helped the others defeat Princess Audrey, but claiming the title for himself just didn’t feel right. He didn’t feel good enough for it.

“Hey,” Jay said, as though sensing his hesitation. “They love you, Gil. Just keep being your charming self and we’ll have full support for the Isle reforms in no time.”

He kept saying that, kept saying Gil had _natural charisma_ , but Gil was pretty sure that wasn’t true. Still, he wanted to hold up his half of their responsibilities, so he mustered as best a smile as he could before sliding into bed, curling close to Jay’s side. 

Things seemed a little more manageable like this, and he knew he didn’t really deserve the treat, that Jay was being generous to allow this much, but Gil had learned to make the most of what he had whether he deserved it or not. So he took the comfort for what it was, and looked forward to the stress-free day they’d have tomorrow when they finally got to stretch their explorer wings.

No extra people, no specific social decorum to worry about – just him and Jay and some nifty caves he could take pictures of for Uma.

It was all downhill from here.

-:-:-:-:-:-

There was a chance Gil had misjudged things, which in hindsight, seemed terribly appropriate since he wasn’t he smartest guy around.

Just- caves seemed straight forward, right? And Jay had magic on his side to protect them. They might not be seasoned explorers, but they _were_ explorers, which meant they were supposed to brave the unknown. How else where they supposed to learn new things? Granted, the safest route would have been for them to go into areas that had already been established since neither of them had experience with this stuff, maybe with a guide, but then they wouldn’t be doing what King Ben wanted, would they? They had to _work_ ; they couldn’t just go on some kind of leisure vacation.

Uma had thought the entire thing was stupid, but Gil trusted Jay – or at least, he trusted the version of Jay that was a hero of Auradon, the one that willingly sacrificed a year of his life for Gil (and King Ben), who was a Tourney star in high demand – so he was sure they’d be all right. 

This particular cave system was supposedly where Rhea had hidden Zeus when he was born, and King Hercules had put in a request to King Ben to have them properly map it out. Doug had given Gil a crash course on that too, but Gil found drawing maps less intimidating than most of his schoolwork. He would have been afraid of being inaccurate, but for some reason he actually seemed good at this, so he’d felt – maybe not comfortable, but not as scared as he could have been when they set off into the depths of Diktaean Cave. 

“It will be okay,” Jay said, the sorcerer-in-training carving runes into the wall as they progressed that had the tunnels of the cave glowing with a warm light. “Mal and Doug taught me how to sense stable ground in prep for this. If things get too hazardous, we’ll just pull back like good responsible people.”

“I like the sound of that,” Gil said, though he wasn’t sure which he liked more, ‘ _good_ ’ or ‘ _responsible_ ’ because neither really seemed to fit him even though he desperately wanted them to.

With Jay’s lights, their exploration became more fun than scary. Gil felt productive making the map and he liked Jay working with his magic. Even though they were going into the unknown, it wasn’t all that scary because of Jay’s abilities. So when they finally exited their winding tunnel path into what seemed to be a large cavern, Gil wasn’t worried because they could see where they were going, and also there were-

“Crystals,” Jay said, looking at the large, pretty rock formations descending from the high ceilings. “They didn’t mention anything about crystals.”

“Maybe they didn’t know about them,” Gil offered, following Jay along the narrow walkway that seemed to act like a sort of stone bridge. “Maybe we just _discovered_ them.”

Below them was the bottom of the large cavern, which also seemed to glow with a scattered accumulation of crystals, though Gil couldn’t help but notice some dark holes intermixed between them, like secret pits or tunnel offshoots that dove deeper into the earth.

“Maybe,” Jay allowed, moving closer to survey a large crystal dangling close to their bridge. “There seems to be some kind of low-level magic emanating from them.”

“Is that good or bad?” Gil asked, splitting his focus between Jay and his clipboard so he could continue to map out the cavern.

“It feels friendly,” Jay offered by way of explanation. 

Gil guessed that meant it was ‘good’ then.

“I’m gonna try to um- scan it,” Jay continued, giving the crystal the full brunt of his attention. “This might take a bit though.”

“Okay,” Gil said, slinging off his pack and taking a seat on the cool rock. While he wanted to focus on what Jay was doing, he had his own task, his own reason to be useful, so he focused on that, using the _cartography_ tools Queen Belle had given him to finish his rough sketch of the cavern. He even had a scanning thing from Carlos that helped him get more accurate measurements, which made it easier for him to map things out on the gridded paper. 

It was a comfort to stay occupied, though less of one when he learned that the bottom of the cavern was maybe fifteen feet under them, and he hadn’t even gotten a depth on the dark holes, those out of reach of the scanner.

“Huh,” Jay said, and when Gil looked back to him, he had both hands pressed against the large crystal, the red glow of his magic emanating from his palms. “This seems to be connected to the mountain itself. Like a manifestation of great energy that was just left behind. They were naturally created, but later imbued with some kind of purpose. I’m still trying to figure out what it is without entirely activating them-”

He paused when his power seemed to burst out in a small explosion, feeding into the crystal, making Jay pull away with a curse, his gaze automatically shifting to look at the entire cavern.

“ _Shit_ ,” he hissed. “I didn’t do that; it was like it stole my magic to act as a spark.”

“For what, though?” Gil asked, and his question was almost immediately answered when the cavern started shaking.

It wasn’t a prolonged thing – maybe ten seconds or less, but it was startling enough that neither Jay nor Gil had been braced for it, so when their narrow bridge gave a furious _jolt_ , Gil hadn’t been ready for it.

He lurched, trying hard to keep his balance while Jay let out a string of curses, then found himself falling forward – suspended in a freefall for a few terrifying seconds before he caught on the side of a large crystal sticking up out of the ground. It was angled in a sort of diagonal slope, and Gil found himself sliding down it, Jay calling after him as he picked up speed.

Gil tried to catch his grip on something but the crystal was too slick, and by the time he got to the floor of the actual cavern, his momentum was so strong that he stumbled back a few steps, almost catching his balance until he took one last step back and-

There was nothing underneath his foot. He stepped and then he fell down one of those dark holes, catching on ledges and sliding against smooth walls and shouting until at last he came to a stop in a useless heap, the cavern no longer shaking but the darkness all-consuming. He looked up where he thought the cavern might be and didn’t even see the distant glow from the crystals, meaning he was on his own, he was-

“ _Gil!_ ” he heard Jay shout from so far away. “ _Gil, where are you?!_ ”

“Jay?!” Gil tried to shout but his throat felt hoarse, his head pounding and body shaky and heart pounding so fast in his chest it almost hurt. He was trapped in the darkness; he was all alone. “I’m- I’m down here!”

Why had he taken off his pack? Now he didn’t even have his flashlight, he didn’t have his climbing gear or first aid kit, not that he could probably use either.

His body hurt. And he knew what he felt now wasn’t everything, that adrenaline dulled the pain, and that worried him, because everything already felt kind of terrible.

“ _I’m coming for you!_ ” Jay hollered. “ _Just stay where you are, okay? I’m gonna call for help, and then I’m gonna come get you!_ ”

“H-Hurry!” Gil shot back, because who knew what could be lurking in the darkness? 

He didn’t want to cry, didn’t want to make a mess of himself before Jay found him because then maybe he might not want to travel with Gil anymore, but it seemed so very hard. He wished Uma and Harry were here. He wished he wasn’t such a klutz. He was supposed to be an explorer. This um- came with that territory.

So he bunkered down, trying to hum that song Uma would sometimes sing to Harry when he was sick, the one Gil had to hear through the crack in her door when he was keeping watch because he hadn’t earned the right to have such a thing shared with him on purpose. He was pretty sure Uma wouldn’t mind him using it now, if only it kept him composed. 

He missed her. Missed _them_. 

But now was not the time.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Gil didn’t panic, but the longer time drew on, he might have gotten close to it.

Just- he didn’t like the darkness. It reminded him too much of the closet his dad would lock him in when he was being an especially big failure. Jay was too far away for Gil to hear him, and even though he’d tried humming Uma’s song, it didn’t seem to be enough. He was too distracted by how much his body hurt. His foot seemed to be twisted at the wrong angle and that scared him, because broken bones were a death sentence on the Isle. That probably wouldn’t be the case out here, but if Gil broke something on their _first stop_ , maybe the king would take away his job. Maybe he’d be forced to go back to Auradon and everyone would realize what a loser he was, and Gil hated the thought of it almost as much as he hated the darkness. He didn’t want to make Uma look bad. He didn’t want to abandon Jay, who’d been so nice to him. He just wanted things to be the way they were this morning, and he knew it wasn’t true, but it was like maybe if he hummed Uma’s tune to himself long enough he could turn back the clock or something.

Yesterday had been so nice. They’d seen so much; people had been happy just to have them nearby. Gil would give anything to get that back again, to have his foot fixed, to not be stuck in the dark, he’d give anything-

Light, and it was so startling that he didn’t know what to do with it, he didn’t know where it came from, only that it was golden, and he had enough time to adjust to the sudden brilliance before he realized it was centering around his foot, moving in a warm pulse-

It was gone just as quickly as had come, and Gil was so very terrified by whatever _that_ had been that it took him a few moments to realize his ankle was actually fine.

It was… fine?

And maybe… maybe it had been okay the whole time. Maybe his panic had just made his bruises seem worse than they were. The light was obviously from some of the cave crystals – maybe Jay had accidentally activated one near Gil or something. Or maybe he’d cast a spell so it would be easier to find Gil. Either way, there was no reason to panic.

Well, maybe there was a little bit, but Gil tried not to anyway. He decided to push the light and the pain completely from his mind and focus on answering Jay the few times he did call out to Gil. 

This would be fine; Gil was going to be fine. Jay would save him because he was a hero, and that was that. 

There was no need to look into things beyond that.

-:-:-:-:-:-

In the end, King Hercules came and tracked them down with the rescue team, following Jay’s glowing runes until they found the Agraben at the top of the hole Gil was trapped in, Jay having managed to successfully create a belay line down to the bottom of the cavern in the time it took for the rest of them to arrive. They set up another pully system to get Gil out of his hole before immediately ushering both explorers to the nearest hospital, where Gil was greeted with a video conference that featured a very unhappy Uma and Harry.

“I’m fine,” he insisted, because his ankle had held up the entire walk back to their transport and everything else was just bruises and cuts the nurses had already treated and wrapped. Everything was fine. “It was an accident.”

Apparently, the crystals had been imbued with some kind of spell to bring the entire cavern down should they be properly activated, which meant King Hercules now got to commission a bunch of safety signs _and_ rope off the place that was definitely where his dad hid at one point or something. Gil wasn’t entirely sure, he hadn’t been listening.

“ _You were trapped for **hours**_ ,” Uma countered, which apparently had been the case because Gil had completely lost track of time in the shadows. “ _And you didn’t have your flashlight?_ ”

“The crystals glowed, though,” Gil pressed, deciding not to share the fact that he couldn’t see the crystals from where he had been trapped because Uma knew how big a baby he was about the dark. “It was okay. I’m okay.”

“ _And is **Jadir** okay?_” Harry asked, and Gil would think this was progress because Harry was asking after Jay, only the question didn’t seem entirely sincere. There was a challenge in it, like Harry was mad that Jay got out of this Scot-free, like he’d done any of this on purpose.

But Gil was dumb so it was believable for him to take the question at face value and miss all of Harry’s nuance. “Yeah, he’s good.”

He was also currently on his own video chat with Mal and Evie, the former of which seemed intent to chastise Jay while Evie tried to sooth his woes with quiet murmurs of support. 

It had been an accident. Just- all of it was an accident.

“ _I should wring his damn neck_ ,” Uma muttered. “ _Throwing magic around with shit he doesn’t understand-_ ”

“We’re explorers,” Gil interrupted, even though that was the last thing he should do, feeling compelled to defend Jay when he’d been so nice to Gil so far. “That’s part of our job.”

“ _Not when it threatens you_ ,” Uma huffed, Harry’s face settling into a scowl beside her. They must be really mad at how weak he’d made them look, having to be rescued instead of saving himself. Who was the big, competent hero now? “ _You could have gotten hurt_.”

“But I didn’t,” Gil said, ignoring those thirty or so minutes when his entire body had been pain because obviously that hadn’t been real. 

He’d gotten scanned and tested and everything, and while that was a new level of scary, they’d confirmed that nothing was broken. The nurses said he was _resilient_. Gil tried to avoid thinking of those first minutes in the dark when it seemed like he hadn’t been.

“ _That doesn’t fucking make this right_ ,” Harry growled. “ _Ye should come back_.”

“Do- do you want me to?” Gil asked, his heart pounding furiously in his chest, a sort of white noise building in the distance. 

Gil had never been without Harry and Uma, he’d understand if they wanted to keep him close by, if only to keep him from making them look bad. Too many people knew he was part of their crew now, they wouldn’t just cut their losses and throw him out to make things easier, even if they wanted to.

“ _No_ ,” Uma said eventually, making Gil swallow down a flinch. “ _No, just be careful, Gilly. Evil knows Jay’s not going to be_.”

“Yes, Captain,” Gil said, relieved and hurt all in one. Part of him had wanted them to call him back to Central Auradon, even if it would have been embarrassing. Even if it would have meant admitting defeat and going to remedial school. He could have been with them again, or at least, he could have been there to get Uma things and distract people away from her if she wanted. 

But they didn’t miss him. Maybe they were happy he was finally out of their hair. They wouldn’t have to deal with his mistakes as much.

“ _Take care, Gilly_ ,” Uma ordered, Harry giving a grunt of confirmation before Gil was left alone with his dirty clothes and lingering aches, the tablet repossessed by some aid that swiftly disappeared into the distance.

Later, they would forget the caves completely and head back to the palace, Jay wearing a look of exhaustion all the while.

“I’m so sorry,” he kept saying, because he blamed himself even though Gil assured him things were fine. “I’ll be more careful going forward. I won’t- I won’t let that happen again.”

“It’s okay,” Gil soothed, and he wished he could make someone happy today, but that didn’t seem to be in the cards for him. “We’re explorers, this is just a um- hazard of the job.”

“If you’d been hurt, though…” Jay said, biting at his bottom lip. “I- I don’t know what I’d do with myself.”

Gil swallowed hard, thinking of darkness and cool stone and crystals too far away to protect him. “Then it’s a good thing I didn’t get hurt, right?”

“Right,” Jay echoed, mustering a small smile like he knew how much Gil needed it. “Why um- don’t we get washed up and go get something to eat? My treat.”

Gil perked up, because even though they were both paid the same, there was something special about Jay offering to cover both of them, even if it was mostly done out of guilt. Most people didn’t feel guilty about hurting Gil at all, and the old Jay hadn’t, so this was progress.

“Okay,” Gil chirped, feeling better already. The sun was high and the air was clear and if he was careful, they wouldn’t have to bother Uma and Harry again, and all would be well.

He just had to focus on the positives.

-:-:-:-:-:-

They were more careful going forward.

Gil had thought they were careful before, but Jay seemed to take Mal’s chastisement to heart, so he was extra certain to take every precaution he could when they set off on their next explorer task – which involved navigating the distant riverbeds of Deep Jungle. 

They went to DunBroch and Jay managed to track down a few other Circles of Stones like from Queen Merida’s story, and though one time they spotted a gaggle of Will O' the Wisps, Jay led them in the exact opposite direction, taking them all the way back to the ship.

“We’ve already found our own fates, thank you,” Jay said by way of explanation, and then that night, he insisted they make a status update with the others where he very vehemently explained just how much they had ignored the floating spirits.

“ _What, are you looking for brownie points or something?_ ” Uma had asked eventually, quirking an unimpressed brow at him. 

Gil saw Jay’s shoulders slump somewhat minutely in his peripherals, which was what prompted him to speak up, the blond clearing his throat carefully.

“I um- personally think Jay deserves lots of brownies,” Gil said, wondering how many points you’d have to accumulate to get such a delivery of baked goods. “I wanted to follow them – to explore – but Jay was very responsible.”

“ _I’m glad to hear that_ ,” King Ben said, and maybe he was being a peacekeeper and maybe he was just glad that one of the two explorers he’d sent out had some kind of common sense but either way, the conversation seemed to end on a high note, which Gil was thankful for.

Gil thought the matter would be left at that, but in their next port of call a very confused delivery person approached their boat, armed with a box full of still-warm brownies from a local bakery.

“Um- King Benjamin sends his regards,” the delivery guy explained before biking off, and Jay and Gil went ahead and threw that ‘balanced breakfast’ thing out the window so they could dine on wonderful, lovely brownies. They were different than grapes, but still distinctly _good_ in their own right.

“To responsibility,” Gil said, delicately clinking his warm, gooey brownie against Jay’s.

“Yeah, it’s pretty great,” Jay agreed, and overall it seemed like a nice morning, except Gil sort of kept getting chocolate smeared on his lips, which he wouldn’t have noticed except sometimes he’d catch Jay staring, which was enough to make him feel embarrassed as he tried to lick it all clean.

He wasn’t sure if he succeeded because Jay just seemed sort of flushed on his behalf by the time they actually left the ship, but he still companionably bumped his shoulder against Gil’s when they were walking through the docks, so Gil decided things were probably fine. 

Jay really was being nice to him on this trip, and Gil would be sure to mention that in his own private call back to Uma and Harry. They needed to understand just how much he had turned over a new leaf, just like _they_ had. They were heroes and explorers and world changers, and while Gil didn’t feel half deserving to tread in their shadows, for the moment, he would be glad that at the very least, they allowed it. 

And maybe after they saw the stockpile of presents he’d gotten them, they would continue to allow it too. They might not be pirates anymore, but everyone liked treasure, right?

Right. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys – thanks for all the lovely feedback!!! I’m glad you’re onboard for some Gilly goodness, and your support and enthusiasm is greatly appreciated!!!
> 
> HEADS UP – My replies to comments will be slightly delayed going forward as I can no longer push off doing a giant quilting Christmas project. Like, I’ve dawdled all I can and now I gotta get this thing finished or there will be *problems*, lol. Just wanted to give that heads up because your feedback is greatly appreciated, I’ll just be slower at expressing as much until I get this thing done :)
> 
> Story notes:
> 
> Stole the name ‘Interceptor’ from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Let’s assume Ben requested the ship from Port Royal or something, and this is its technologically advanced, greatly improved counterpart :)
> 
> Okay, I’ll be real with you, all the cave information I got from the Psychro Cave Wikipedia page after googling ‘Greek mythology caves’. In that article, like, three different caves are mentioned, and I’m honestly not sure if I used the right one for Zeus’s hiding place. So if I got it wrong, let’s chalk it up to Auradon not quite matching up with the real world and leave it at that ;D
> 
> More notes:
> 
> Now that I actually have room, here are the links to my previous years’ anniversary pieces:
> 
> 1\. [Any Moment – Chapter 32: The Rainbow Connection](https://archiveofourown.org/works/821750/chapters/27660498)  
> 2\. [Songs About Rainbows](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8760443/1/Songs%20About%20Rainbows)  
> 3\. [Beyond that Road Lies Despair](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9895835/1/Beyond%20that%20Road%20Lies%20Despair)  
> 4\. [All Things Great and True](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2715338/chapters/6078875)  
> 5\. [Happiness is a Firefly](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8809654/chapters/20199049)  
> 6\. [The Time Love Takes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8809378/chapters/20198290)  
> 7\. [Breaking Space-Time](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12907332/chapters/29487729)  
> 8\. [Such a Calamity](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16902366/chapters/39707043)  
> 9\. [Life is a Masquerade](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21652201/chapters/51632041)
> 
> Until next time :)


	3. You Set Me Straight

The more time passed, the more Gil felt comfortable with his position as ambassador/explorer. Granted, he still didn’t like the ambassador part, but King Ben seemed to have set them up with a heap of kingdoms that already liked them for the first half of their trip, so the first few months weren’t as scary as they could be (aside from what happened in Apheliotia, which they decidedly did not talk about if they had the choice). 

They learned how to weave nets in Motunui and slow cooked pigs over a fire. They went to Westerly and Queen Ariel took them swimming near the coral reef with her gaggle of children. They went to Maldonia and learned how to make homemade pasta and then they went to Bayou de Orleans and ate beignets and learned how to swing dance. Every place they went had different dances to learn, and Gil thought he might like that part of their trip most of all. Sometimes he’d dance with whoever was teaching them and sometimes he’d dance with random citizens but a lot of times he would dance with Jay and it wouldn’t even be weird, even though there weren’t that many guy-only couples swinging around the dancefloor.

Later, he would show off the moves he’d learned to Uma and whoever happened to be hanging out with her over video chat, and he would have felt self-conscious, but usually he’d earn giggles or a smile, and even if they were laughing _at_ him, they were still laughing, and he took comfort in that.

“ _You having fun, Gilly?_ ” Uma would ask, wearing a mask of soft happiness that Gil couldn’t determine as genuine or not.

“I am, Captain,” Gil confirmed, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. “But only after I finish doing my job.”

“ _Of course_ ,” Uma would say, and he didn’t know if that was a threat so he tried not to read into it, even if his anxiety sort of made him want to.

She hadn’t yelled at him yet, and she must not have figured out about his private studies, so things were probably okay. It was hard, juggling school work with exploring and ambassadoring and bonding with Jay, but Doug was always super nice and patient and he hadn’t even told Evie about their arrangement, so Gil tried to take that for the gift it was so he could stop feeling listless.

Still, he wished Uma and Harry were with him. It didn’t seem right to play at being captain when he’d never been that good a sailor.

And yet, there was nothing he could do but push on.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“And this,” Gil began with a mild flourish. “Is a pear.”

On the small screen Gil had balanced on his desk, Harry’s image raised a lone brow. “ _More fruit, eh?_ ”

The first mate didn’t sound particularly upset when he said it, but Gil was bad at reading these kind of things. It had only gotten worse when the bulk of his conversations with Harry became video chats, and where Gil had once been able to at least be mostly sure he wasn’t upsetting the first mate, it seemed that nowadays he was more miss than hit.

At least Jay seemed to be having the same issues with Carlos. It made it seem like things were less Gil’s fault specifically.

Still, that didn’t mean Gil shouldn’t try, so he switched subjects. “I could talk about the festival instead!” The words came out in a clumsy rush, though Gil smiled through the awkwardness to get through it. “There was a giant dragon puppet – like the one when the barrier went down – but way nicer, and they had fireworks which are like-” Gil waved his hand in a vague recreation of the sight. “Colorful explosions in the sky except they do them on purpose and no one runs away.”

Gil would admit there had been a lot of quiet terror at first, but Jay hadn’t noticed and the pain had never come so Gil had pushed through that too, pushed the fear to the outskirts of his mind where he could ignore it and focused on the wondrous sight instead. Without the noise, the fireworks really had been pretty.

He wished Harry had been there to see it, but Gil wished that about most of the things during this trip.

Part of the reason Gil had accepted Jay’s offer was because well – exploring, duh, that was a thing even he couldn’t pass up – but a uh… bigger part was likely due to the fact that Jay had approached him specifically. _Him_. Gil. And not just to act as muscle but because he liked Gil’s spirit, his eagerness to explore the unknown. Back on the Isle, the most amazing thing about Gil was probably the fact that he wasn’t dead yet. Most of that could be attributed to Harry and Uma though, which meant the most notable thing about Gil wasn’t even _about_ him.

But then came Jay and his icebreaker, followed by a royal ship on-loan and festivals in that place General Li and Fa guarded over and things seemed… better.

Not the best, of course, because Harry and Uma weren’t here, but better.

Gil hoped giving them space would give them the time to do… whatever they wanted to do. Things would be better for them, now that he wasn’t there to get in the way.

Still, he wished Harry would go back to normal when he called.

“ _Auradon_ ,” Harry said with a huff, rolling his eyes. “ _They take the fun out of everything._ ”

“It was still cool.” Gil tried to impress upon Harry the importance that was fireworks and ended up waving his fingers in a poor recreation. “We should see them together, when I come back.”

“ _But will ye need to?_ ” Harry’s gaze narrowed. “ _Now that you’ve seen them with Jay?_ ”

See, it was when Harry said that kind of stuff that made Gil think things were wrong. Maybe.

“Sure!” Gil focused on what he could control. “I mean, once you see them-”

“Gil?” Two quick raps on his door followed Jay’s voice, and then the other teen leaning into Gil’s room. “We’ve got to head out soon if we want to make it in time.”

Right. The dinner. A drawback of being sort-of ambassadors.

“ _Don’t let me hold ye up_ ,” Harry drawled, a tight smile on his face that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “ _I’ll see ye later, Gil_.”

“I’ll call you tonight,” Gil promised. He’d put a note on the door, where he wouldn’t be able to miss it. Granted, his writing still wasn’t great but he’d been getting better with Doug’s help. “Okay? And-”

The screen cut out before he could finish the sentence, which had been happening a lot recently. It seemed like he never got to finish his conversations with Harry anymore. Not properly.

“He okay?” Jay’s brows were furrowed when he stepped into the room. He managed to pull off the silky formal clothing General Li had provided them like some kind of fairytale prince which was really unfair, considering that Gil looked and felt about as out of place as a potato.

“Yeah,” Gil lied, maybe, plastering on his default smile because he didn’t know what else to do. “Ready to avoid a, uh…”

“Diplomatic incident?” Jay offered, parroting back the words Mal had held over them like some kind of butcher’s knife. Gil wasn’t entirely sure what they meant, only that they needed to avoid them at all costs. Mal had gotten that look in her eye his dad used to get when Gil was being a particularly huge failure to the family name, and Gil understood the threat of that well enough. “Yeah, I’m all set.”

“Good!” Gil bounced to his feet, snatching up one of those little notepads that had come with his desk. Also, he had a desk. Well, it wasn’t his, but he got to use it, which was basically the same thing. “I’ll follow you, then.”

Gil was comfortable being a follower. Granted, he and Jay were supposed to be partners and they _were_ , for exploring, but formal social interactions generally required a level of charm Gild didn’t have. On purpose. Jay still thought he managed to stumble through things well enough even if that was on accidental, so Gil guessed it was fine.

He scrawled out a hasty reminder to call Harry and clipped it to his door, figuring he was as ready as he’d ever be.

Just like every other time they got ready to visit some person of authority, Jay offered Gil a comforting smile. “You’ll be fine.”

Based on the number of times Gil had accidentally spilled food on himself and/or others, this comfort was not warranted, but still nice.

Gil shrugged. “If you say so.”

He could only hope.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“Did you enjoy the festival?”

“Oh, yeah.” So far Gil had managed not to drop any food on his too silky clothes so he was feeling victorious, even if that was mostly due to his inability to use the two little sticks they had been given to eat stuff with. He missed the soup. The soup had a spoon. Gil understood spoons. “The lion dance was amazing! The way they managed to go up and down and not even trip on each other – that was cool.” Gil definitely would have tripped over himself, but then again, Gil wouldn’t have gotten picked for anything like that on the Isle for the same reason Uma didn’t let him wash dishes at the Chip Shoppe – he broke stuff too easily. “And everything was so _red_.”

“It’s for good luck,” General Fa told him, a smile tugging at her lips. “To bring us fortune for the new year.”

“Were the fireworks for good luck?” Gil asked, managing to spear one of the pieces of chicken onto his stick. “Because you should do those all the time, even if they’re not.”

General Fa’s smile tugged a little wider. “But then they wouldn’t be as special, would they?”

“Huh.” Gil popped the chicken into his mouth. “I guess not.”

To date, Jay had let Gil share his bed every night and that was easily one of the greatest things ever, next to sharing a bed with Uma and Harry and Evie’s scalp massages. If Gil could get those to happen every day he totally would, ‘specialness’ be damned, but he guessed things worked differently out here. 

He felt something prodding against his thigh, and grinned when he realized Jay was slipping him a fork. A glorious, beautiful fork.

“Thanks again for inviting us,” Jay cut in, having no trouble using _his_ sticks to shift food around his plate. “It’s an honor.”

“Is it?” Gil frowned, then realized what he just said. “I mean, yeah, it is ‘cuz you saved the whole country.” He waved at the lady general. She had told him to call her Mulan but he could practically hear Harry growling at him about the chain of command at the thought of it. “But we had dinner with you yesterday. Wait-” He turned to Jay. “Is it an honor every night?”

He knew he was going to mess this up.

General Fa was laughing at him now, but like, a nice laugh, not the cruel one his brothers used when teaching Gil a lesson.

Jay was smiling too. “Dinner on Wei New Year is generally a family only affair. It’s an honor to be included in that.”

“Oh.” Gil tried to picture dinner with his dad and brothers and Uncle LeFou but couldn’t manage it, certainly nothing as fancy as this, then settled for dinner at the Chip Shoppe with Uma and Harry and this new Jay that seemed to be his friend.

“It’s our pleasure,” General Li, who was more reserved but seemed to not hate them, offered. “You weren’t what we were expecting.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Gil said. Beside him, Jay seemed to tense ever so slightly, so Gil took that as his cue to continue, “Which I guess is a good thing now.”

Lonnie – the girl Jay had dragged Gil into sword fighting practice with – scrunched her nose. “Was it ever a bad thing?”

“It was if you asked my dad.” Gil prodded at the wet looking pasta thing at the side of his plate. “It’s why he didn’t name me.”

“After himself?” Lonnie asked, likely thinking of Junior and Trois.

“Right.” Sure. That sounded better. “What are these things again?”

“Dumplings,” Lonnie said, still looking troubled.

“Are they lucky too?”

General Fa Mulan laughed. “Actually, yes. And speaking of-” The warrior set aside her fancy sticks with practiced care, reaching low to reveal two red envelopes from under the table. She offered one each to Jay and Gil. “Another tradition.”

“Wow.” Gil took his carefully, staring at the golden lettering he couldn’t decipher. “We’re gonna have luck flowing out our ears at this rate.” And Gil thought he had already gotten more luck than he deserved. Maybe this would help him pass his next reading test. “Thank you,” he added belatedly, running his fingers along the sides. There was a spot in his desk where he could keep this thing safe until they got back to Auradon, but he would have to be careful between here and there. “It’s pretty!”

Lonnie was giving him another weird look. “You open them.”

“What?” Gil looked towards Jay, who was already urging his envelope open. “Oh.”

Well, he could still give this to Harry if he was careful. Red and good luck? It was the perfect present. Even the gold lettering seemed like its own little treasure.

Gil opened his envelope slowly, blinking when he realized it was full of Auradon bills. 

On the Isle, these bills were only good for tinder and insulation, but out here you could buy stuff at shops without having to steal or haggle. Gil usually used his to buy the others presents, though Uma had ordered him to make sure to get some stuff for himself – likely so he wouldn’t look bad for having outdated gear. The rest he saved in one of the wooden boxes Doug had given him before he left. 

They were for _storage_ , and one was normal while the other one had been carved with runes to nullify magic stuff – that way if Gil ran into anything _suspicious_ while he and Jay were exploring, they could protect themselves with the box. Doug had given some to both of them, and Gil kept the small magic box in one of the many pockets on his belt. He liked it a lot. Sometimes he’d run his fingers over it to remind himself he was worthy of presents, even if they were given out of pity.

“Thank you,” Jay said, though he seemed tense again, which meant it was Gil’s turn to take over. 

“Yeah, thanks! A lucky envelope and-” Gil waved the bills. “Is anything we buy with this lucky too? I could get Uma one of those-” He flicked his hand, trying to replicate those intricate handheld things that folded in on themselves.

“A fan?” Lonnie asked.

“Probably.” Gil would have to look into that later. A lucky fan. That was a good treasure.

“I think,” Lady General Li began in that kind sort of tone that reminded Gil of Evie. “-that the intent could get you some luck.”

Which was more than zero. _Nice_.

“Uma,” Mr. General Li repeated. “That’s Ursula’s daughter, right?”

Gil nodded. “She’s my captain! I mean, back home. Here I’m the captain. When we’re on the ship.” Only because Jay didn’t know anything about boats.

“Who’s the captain when you’re not on the ship?” Lonnie asked.

Gil pointed to Jay, who was still staring at his envelope. “He’s the captain of talking to people. And exploring.”

“But in Auradon, Uma’s captain?” Mr. General Li repeated.

“Yeah, she takes care of us.” Gil nodded. “Since no one else would. Or. They wouldn’t.” He frowned. “Guess that’s not the case now. But you know, crew is family.”

“So Jay’s family?” Lonnie prompted, both eyebrows raised, but not in an expression of surprise. “Since he’s captain?”

“Um…” Gil shrugged. “Yeah. He’s mine, I mean. At least.”

Hopefully Jay wouldn’t get too mad at the association, but he seemed too absorbed with staring at his envelope to protest, so Gil guessed it was fine. He would tell Gil later if it was really a problem.

“I think that’s lovely.” Lady General Fa said.

Gil couldn’t help but agree.

-:-:-:-:-:-

They had accounted for a lot of things, but freak rainstorms hadn’t been one of them. Had they known, they wouldn’t have turned down the general’s offer of a car, preferring to walk back to the ship to enjoy the cool night air. 

Now they were cold _and_ wet – well, soaking, waiting for the automatic gangplank to extend so they could get into the ship proper and out of the pouring rain.

“Aw man.” Gil hugged his arms closer to his chest. “Our fancy clothes.”

“What, were you gonna give these to Harry too?” Jay asked, trying and likely failing to keep water out of his eyes.

“I don’t think Harry would wear this kind of stuff,” Gil admitted, staring down at the delicate material that was now plastered to his skin. “But it was nice! Do you think Evie would have wanted it?”

“Don’t worry about Evie, man,” Jay said as he urged Gil up the gangplank. “Focus on us.”

“Right.” They stumbled into the ship together, Gil brushing soaked hair out of his eyes. It was cool on the ship, though at least dry, which made the puddles growing under them all the more noticeable.

“ _Finally_.” Jay sighed, ringing out the hem of his shirt. “I can go turn on the heater if you wanna hit the showers.”

“Wait.” Gil grabbed his arm before Jay could make it into the hallway. “The carpet.”

“What?” It was sort of nice to be in the situation where someone else was confused for once.

“We can’t get it wet.” At least, Gil was pretty sure they couldn’t, which seemed like a weird feature to have on a ship but Ben had trusted him with this fancy boat, carpets and all, so Gil had to take care of it. “Come on.” He started struggling out of his soaked shirt, which was hard because he didn’t want to rip it. “We can come back for this stuff later.”

When it was less wet. And _they_ were less wet.

Gil grinned when he finally made it out of his shirt, tossing the wet material to the side. Even though the garment was soaked, without it Gil shivered, exposed to the cold air of the ship. He kicked his shoes off next.

“I uh… really don’t think it’s that big a deal if we get the carpet wet.” Jay hadn’t really moved from his spot by the door, looking less lost and more unreadable, but still noticeably dripping.

Gil rolled his eyes. “Captain’s orders.”

“You’re ordering me to strip?”

“I’m _ordering_ you not to drip on the carpet.” Gil kicked his wet pants down his legs, leaving the small adventuring belt he had hid under his clothes that held his phone and Harry’s envelope. “How you decide to do that is up to you.”

He let out a noise of triumph when he successfully freed himself from the wet clothing, kicking it to the side. He pulled his hair out of the low pony Evie had told him passed for fancy with a shake of his head, squeezing out a swell of water and shivering again when it spilled down his back.

He supposed Jay could just wait in here until he was dry, but that left him cold for an unnecessary amount of time, in Gil’s opinion.

“There.” Gil scraped off whatever remaining droplets he could find. “I’ll go turn on the heater. You can do whatever.”

“As long as I don’t drip on the carpet.” Jay noted. His cheeks seemed a little warm, though it was hard to tell in the low light of the entry area. Maybe he was getting sick, or something. Gil would have to check on that tomorrow. That seemed like a captain thing.

“Right.” Gil nodded, shivering again. Getting out of the clothes had helped but not much. It would be good to get properly dry.

Belatedly, Gil felt the pouch on his belt begin to vibrate. By this point, it had happened enough times for Gil to realize that it was his phone that was ringing, not some kind of planted trap or evil bomb. He fumbled to retrieve the device, happy to note it was still dry.

“Hey, it’s Evie!” he cheered, showing Jay the familiar picture lighting up the phone.

“Maybe don’t answer it now?” Jay’s fingers fumbled against the clasps of his shirt. “Just message her and say we can’t talk right-”

“Evie!” Gil cheered when the video call connected. “And Uma! Hi guys!”

“ _Hi, Gil!_ ” Evie was radiant and beautiful and all the things that made up a fairytale princess seemed to be, even when her smile faded away into confusion. “ _Where’s your shirt?_ ”

“Floor,” Gil replied, turning the phone so they could see the pile of wet clothing. “We got caught in the rain.”

“ _We?_ ” Uma spoke up for the first time, her expression a mix of amusement and judgement.

Behind him, Jay sighed. “Hey guys.” He stepped up behind Gil, peeking over his shoulder so he could see the small screen. He had successfully managed to escape his shirt, though it still hung from loose fingers.

Uma’s other brow rose. “ _Wow, Jay. You work fast._ ”

“At undoing buttons? He’s actually super slow,” Gil offered.

“Gil doesn’t want us to drip on the carpet,” Jay explained, as though protecting their very fancy ship pained him.

“Because I’m a responsible captain, Captain!” If anyone would understand caring for their boat, it was Uma. “How are things for you guys?”

“ _They’ve been better,_ ” Uma allowed all mysteriously.

Before Gil could ask for clarification, Evie cut back in. “ _How did your dinner go?_ ”

“Not terribly!” Gil chirped, which was pretty much his baseline for these things. “They made us eat with sticks, though.”

“Chopsticks,” Jay clarified.

“And we got presents!” Gil pulled out the red envelope, though he made sure to rub off the last of the rain from his fingers first. “Do you think Harry will like it?”

Uma rolled her eyes. “ _At this rate, he’ll take whatever you give him._ ”

“ _What’s wrong, Jay?_ ” Evie pressed before Gil could ask what she meant.

Gil could feel Jay’s tension, which made him realize how well, close he was. “They gave us money, and it’s just… we’re not charity cases, you know?”

That was what he was upset about?

“Except we sort of are.” Gil frowned. “Since none of us had anything when we came over from the Isle. Like, granted, that was Auradon’s fault, and they’re trying to fix it, but until then we…” Gil scrunched his nose in thought. “Don’t have any capital?”

“ _You’ve been talking to Mal again,_ ” Uma didn’t quite accuse.

Gil flushed. “She’s also confused about all this royal stuff.”

Evie grinned. “ _Speaking of Mal, she and Ben will be joining you guys at your next stop._ ”

“Really?” Jay perked up. “It’ll be nice to see a familiar face.”

“And Ben,” Gill added.

Evie frowned. “ _Ben’s a familiar face._ ”

“I mean, he’s a face,” Gil allowed. “Hey, do you think they’ll take some stuff back for me?”

“ _If you ask nice enough, sure._ ” Uma shrugged with a small grin. “ _Maybe you should hope it rains._ ”

Jay sighed. “ _Stop_.”

“Did I miss something?” Gil asked even though it wasn’t really a question, it was obvious something had occurred that he was too dumb to pick up on.

Evie pretty confirmed it with her stubborn smile. “ _Nothing, Gil. We just miss you guys, is all._ ”

“We miss you too!” Gil latched onto the truth because it was all he could do. “We’re gonna be heading into the mountains tomorrow to search for the Cave of Beasts but we should be back in range in about a week.”

“ _Just don’t die,_ ” Uma pressed.

“ _And don’t forget to hydrate,_ ” Evie added. “ _And wear your helmets!_ ”

“We’ve explored caves before, Eves,” Jay sighed again. Louder.

“ _Yeah, and we remember what happened_ **_last time_**.” Uma was frowning now, a familiar sign of displeasure from when Gil had come up too short.

Gil flushed. “We’ll do better this time.”

“Chill, Uma.” Unlike Gil, Jay didn’t take well to criticism, even when it was justified. “It was an accident.”

“ _An accident that didn’t cost **you** much, did it?_”

“Hey…” Gil didn’t like where this conversation was going, because they always threw around the word ‘accident’ when they should be saying ‘Gil’s fault’ and sometimes Gil hated being good because that meant everyone shushed him when he tried to bring it up.

“ _That’s behind us now,_ ” Evie cut in, smile unyielding and warning she would take no arguments. “ _So let’s not talk about it again._ ”

“ _Yeah,_ ” Uma huffed. “ _Looks like you guys are dry enough anyway._ ”

“Not until he loses his pants,” Gil offered sagely.

“ _Are you not wearing pants?_ ” Beside Uma, Evie’s cheeks tinged in a pretty kind of pink.

“They were wet.”

“ _For the record,_ ” Uma cut back in. “ _What **are** you wearing?_”

“And I think that’s our cue to call it a night,” Jay decided, stepping out of view of the camera to shuck off his pants.

“ _You hurt him, I hurt you!_ ” Uma warned. It was a familiar goodbye for her, and it never failed to make Gil feel warm inside, even if it isn’t warranted. She was only doing it for the principle of the matter. Gil was hers, and it would look bad if she didn’t protect what was hers. Uma wasn’t like the other crew leaders that eagerly threw away weak links, even if that was what Gil was.

“I’m glad we’re friends now,” Jay grumbled, struggling to get out of the offending garment.

“ _Gil, sweetheart._ ” Uma’s voice was like a lightning strike, pulling Gil’s focus with relentless ease. “ _Eyes on me._ ”

“Right.” He could feel his cheeks warming, was conscious of Evie’s heavy stare even though Jay was out of the picture. She said stuff like that now, and it never failed to make Gil feel off balance, even though he desperately wanted more. “Goodnight, Captain. Your highness.” He bowed, as much as he was able to, careful not to drop the phone.

When he looked back up, the pink of Evie’s cheeks had darkened. “ _Goodnight Gil. Jay_.”

“ _Sleep well,_ ” Uma added. “ _And don’t fall behind on your schoolwork._ ”

“I won’t,” Gil promised – he was far too terrified of that, even if Uma didn’t know the extent of his extra studies.

Jay slid back into view, having finally escaped his clothes. “And I won’t let him. Night, ladies.”

“Night!” Gil added. “I gotta go turn on the heater.”

“ _You haven’t-_ ” Uma’s expression shifted to one of exasperation. “ ** _Gil_**.”

“Now you know how I feel,” Jay sighed.

“Our clothes were _wet_ ,” Gil insisted.

“And I’m freezing,” Jay sighed. “Just-”

“Right. Bye!” Gil offered one last time before ending the call. “You go to your room and I’ll just-”

He left before he finished the sentence, happy to note that the carpet was completely water free.

Second win for the night.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“Got a call from Evie,” Jay said out of the blue one day when Gil was charting their course for the next portion of their trip. “Ulstead needed to push back our meetings, so since we now have a gap in our schedule, we can make a trip back to Central Auradon.”

Gil perked up at that, couldn’t help it because if that meant what he thought it meant then he was going to see Uma again, and maybe he could give her and Harry the treasure he’d accumulated for them so far. 

He’d lost his nerve to ask King Ben and Mal when they’d visited, Gil feeling too tongue tied even though Mal had spent so much time hanging on his arm when they went for walks and stuff, King Ben not seeming to mind as he caught up with Jay behind them, the king letting Jay hang on _his_ arm in that kind of joking way friends did Gil guessed.

“Which means, apparently,” Jay continued, staring at his phone that likely had some kind of important email or text on it or something. “-that we can accept an invitation to the Radcliffe’s Dog Rescue.”

Gil… did not know what that meant. “Whose dog rescue?” he asked, wishing he was smarter.

“The um- Radcliffe’s,” Jay repeated. “You know, they had all the dalmatians?”

The- right, the dogs. A hundred and one dogs that drove Carlos’ mom crazy.

“Ben’s been wanting to send someone out to them for a while,” Jay continued. “You know, as a sort of goodwill gesture to thank them for all their hard work. Carlos visits them sometimes.”

To make peace, probably. Or like, to sympathize with them, since he also experienced how awful his mom could be. That made sense. Sometimes Gil considered doing the same thing with Queen Belle, but she was a _queen_ , so mostly he just tried not to bother her. She’d been hassled by enough LeGumes to last her a lifetime, was Gil’s thought.

“So we’ll drive up and get to play with some dogs,” Jay continued blithely, unaware of Gil’s growing confusion. “ _Nice_ dogs,” he elaborated, which was kind, because the dogs back on the Isle had all sort of been the worst of the worst, especially Sykes’. “The good news is, some of the others will get to join us too.”

That actually made Gil perk up. “Really? Like um- Uma and Harry?”

“Evie didn’t give specifics,” Jay said, which was not entirely comforting. “But if you’re gonna be in the same country as them for once, I’m sure one of them will be there.”

He said it with a kind sort of confidence, and as much as Gil trusted Jay, he couldn’t help but worry that perhaps the Agraben might not be correct in this instance. It was just that Jay was used to Auradon dynamics, but Gil and his crew… well, they hadn’t been off the Isle together long enough to make that shift together. They didn’t _have_ to make an effort towards Gil anymore since he wasn’t bringing them any kind of direct benefit like muscle or protection. Sure, he was adding to their reputation and making them look good that way (somehow, it still boggled him, to be honest), but that didn’t necessarily warrant a visit.

But Jay seemed so sure and he was smiling at Gil and Gil didn’t like raining on Jay’s fun, so he did what he did best and slipped into a comfortable smile, which always seemed to work.

“Awesome,” he chirped, redirecting their route to take them to Central Auradon instead of Ulstead. It wasn’t that big a difference. “I can’t wait to play with some nice dogs.”

“That’s the spirt,” Jay said, seeming relieved by Gil’s easy acceptance of their change of plans, and with that, they headed back towards Central Auradon.

Just not the part of Central Auradon Gil necessarily cared about.

-:-:-:-:-:-

The Radcliffes were really nice people. They didn’t seem to care who Gil’s dad was and were more than happy to show him and Jay around their rescue dog facility despite them very much being strangers for the most part. It was strange, but kind of fun, and when they were finally ushered towards the acres of land they kept for the dogs to run around in and subsequently left to their own devices, they were finally greeted by a familiar face.

“Carlos!” Jay cheered, charging forward to sweep the young De Ville off his feet in a tight hug, spinning him in easy circles that Carlos seemed to entirely protest. “You’re here!”

“Of course I’m here, you oaf,” Carlos huffed, and though he seemed annoyed, he also melted into Jay’s attention, but only when the Agraben couldn’t really notice it.

“Aw, I missed you too,” Jay said, making a show of rubbing his cheek against the top of Carlos’s head which was actually pretty cute, so Gil took a picture of it. He could do that now. Phones were really amazing things. “Did anyone else come?”

“A few,” Carlos sniffed but wouldn’t elaborate, like he thought maybe Jay would be more happy to see them than him and he wanted to soak up all the Jay time he could while they were alone (which Gil did not blame him for, he felt the same way), which prompted Jay to more or less cart Carlos around for a bit while they chased after dogs, Carlos complaining all the while.

Gil may have taken a few videos for posterity. He was pretty sure Uma would get a kick out of this.

Eventually, even Gil grew tired of running around with the dogs and Carlos managed to wiggle his way out of Jay’s hold, so it was just the Agraben running around while they sort of held back, enjoying the sunny afternoon and lack of judging eyes.

“Hey,” Gil broke the awkward silence between him and Carlos before he could second guess himself.

It got him the other teen’s attention for all of a second before his gaze returned to the distant fields where Jay chasing a pack of dogs. It was anyone’s guess who would run out of energy first. “What.”

“I was thinking about um… taking a walk.” Gil shifted back against the sun-warmed grass, folding his arms behind his head as he took in a full view of the meadow. “Around the edge of the property. You know, stretch my legs. Could you let Jay know I’ll be back later?”

A pause, and then Carlos turned to slowly look at him, eyes narrowing in a critical examination that made Gil feel small. “Why?”

“So he won’t worry?” Gil frowned. “He seems like he’s having a good time, I didn’t want to interrupt him-”

“Why a walk?” Carlos cut in, seeming unaffected by Gil’s response.

“Oh, um…” Gil shrugged, and had to look away from that assessing stare. “He’s your best friend, right? You guys should have some alone time, without me tagging along.”

It had been Jay’s idea initially, one that Gil had tried to duck out of because as much as Jay assured otherwise, Carlos didn’t like him and Gil didn’t want to be a third wheel. He could pretend everything was fine with Harry and Uma through years of practice, but this was… different.

“He could get upset,” Carlos offered it as a possibility, though one he seemed to doubt.

Gil shrugged again. “He’ll get over it.”

In the distance, Jay was finally tackled by one of the larger dogs, the others taking the opportunity to attack him with enthusiastic tongues, licking and cuddling against him, tails wagging frantically as he crowed his surrender. 

Yeah, Jay would be fine. He’d seen more than enough of Gil to last him a lifetime. Now it was Carlos’ turn.

“What do I owe you?”

“What?” The question took Gil off guard, enough that he met Carlos’ sharp gaze, the other teen still staring at him.

“Payment?” Carlos pressed.

“N-Nothing.” Gil shook his head. “This is a frien- an um… ally thing.”

“Allies,” Carlos echoed.

Gil didn’t say anything. Didn’t even smile, though it would have kept him safe.

Carlos seemed to mull the word over in his mind. “I like to reward my allies,” he said eventually.

Which was a good way to keep them around, Gil knew, but he hadn’t really expected that statement to lead to Carlos De Ville straddling his lap, staring down at Gil as though he was a particularly difficult puzzle to solve.

“Um…” Gil’s gaze flickered to Jay, but they were safely hidden from the other teen by the enthusiastic pack of dogs. “You don’t have to-”

He cut off when Carlos reached forward, thin fingers trailing behind Gil’s neck. He held his breath, didn’t dare move, didn’t breathe, as Carlos found his prize, tugging at Gil’s hair tie until it came undone. He tossed the thin band of material aside without his eyes ever leaving Gil’s, his weight unyielding and impossible to ignore. 

“You like it when Evie massages your head, right?” Carlos asked, though his fingers were already moving through Gil’s hair, combing it out before settling against the base of his skull.

“Y-Yeah.” Gil swallowed, let his eyes fall shut when Carlos leaned forward, drawing closer to get better leverage. Gil couldn’t ignore the shift of weight pressed against his groin, too busy trying to still his heart, his brain, trying to understand that this was really happening. 

But it was. And Carlos was no Evie- he didn’t have her patience, her effortless care, but where she was gentle, he was thorough, rubbing at pressure points that made Gil’s body turn to goo, had him shaking helplessly between pale palms. 

“Like that?” Carlos’ breath huffed against his ear as the fingers traced higher, kneading against the crown of his head. “Kind of like a dog, aren’t you?”

Gil couldn’t respond, didn’t have the words, not when Carlos seemed to shift down against him, making Gil painfully aware of his sudden interest. He could feel a blush darkening his cheeks, had to force his hands to curl against the grass beside him because his place was not to touch those thin hips, that wasn’t what this was about.

“You know,” Carlos continued, fingers sliding lower until the clamped around Gil’s shoulders, working at the muscles there. “I like dogs.”

“Oh,” Gil breathed as his legs flexed wider, hips shifting up in a reflexive rut.

Just like that, Carlos was back to sitting beside him, hair smoothed down as though the payment had never happened.

“You should go,” Carlos said as Gil struggled to hear over the roar in his ears, body overwhelmed with conflicting urges of relaxation and hot need. Everything felt like too much but not enough, but that didn’t matter, it didn’t. Gil had probably misread everything that had just happened.

“Okay,” Gil said, rising to stand on shaky legs. 

In the distance, Jay was laughing, his hair coming loose and scattered against his shoulders.

Gil cleared his throat. “I’ll see you later.”

Carlos didn’t reply as Gil slunk into the safety of the woods, and maybe that was for the best. 

-:-:-:-:-:- 

"Gil?"   
  
After stumbling away from Carlos, Gil hadn't expected to find company, especially not this far out on the property. He had limped until he could find a way to jog, until he could run away the lingering effects of Carlos' 'present'. It should be embarrassing, but Carlos- he was smart. Painfully smart, and had probably known that would be Gil's response. It was fine, and if it wasn't, both of them would be okay pretending that it was, but Gil had expected a little more alone time before he had to figure out how to face people again.  
  
Instead, he got Jane's delicate features shifting into a smile at the sight of him, the large basket hanging from her elbow dangling precariously as she reached up to offer him a wave.  
  
"Gil!" she chirped again, crossing the clearing in measured steps. The pale blue summer dress seemed to flutter behind her; maybe the work of the magic Uma said ran in her veins. "How are you?"  
  
"Um... great." Better, now that Jane was there. Even if Gil felt awkward around her, it was hard not to want Jane around, with her easy smiles and quick wit. "Did you come for Carlos?"  
  
"I was gonna surprise him," Jane confirmed, coming up to a stop before Gil. "I thought he was supposed to be with you?"  
  
"He's with Jay.” Gil shrugged. "You know, hanging." Gil wondered if Carlos ever gave head massages to Jay, ever settled himself in _his_ lap like he owned it, and immediately had to dismiss the picture. "I could help you find them?"   
  
He didn't want to, but he would, for Jane.  
  
She chewed on her bottom lip. It was pink and full and definitely not something Gil should stare at. "No, they need some time together," she decided, and just like that, she fell into step with Gil, following his wander into the unknown. "It's been rough without Jay around."  
  
"I know how he feels." Jay and Carlos' friendship went way back, to the point where even Gil knew about it as a constant. The combination hadn't made much sense on the Isle – where Jay was strong and cunning and Carlos was a weak slave to his mother – but despite that, they had always seemed so solid.   
  
Gil had envied that, until he found Harry and Uma.   
  
"I suppose you do," Jane said quietly. Her hand settled against Gil's elbow before hooking through it, leaning against him as though Gil were some kind of gentleman. "They really miss you too, Gil."   
  
"Yeah?" Gil felt himself blushing. They probably missed having someone they could trust around; someone they could give simple orders to with only minimal fear of their incompletion. "Do you know if we- if they're doing okay in school?"   
  
Jane paused, taking a moment to really think about the question. "I think they're doing the best they can," she said eventually.   
  
Uma's best was better than most anything else, so Gil didn't worry about them, felt whatever tension that had settled on his shoulders slowly ease away.   
  
"Are you hungry?" It seemed like a non-sequitur, but Jane's eyes were wide and insistent. "I packed a picnic for us. No point in letting it go to waste."  
  
"Are you sure?" Gil would hate to accidentally make things worse with Carlos by stealing a present from his girlfriend. "We could get back to the main house-"  
  
"It's best enjoyed fresh," Jane insisted. "Come on, there's a pond right there, we can settle next to it."   
  
She dragged him forward – and for such a small thing her grip was strong, pulling Gil forward when his feet were reluctant to intrude. He found himself helping her spread out a light blue blanket, setting down containers and pretty plastic bottles until Jane deemed it satisfactory.   
  
She had gone all out; tiny sandwiches cut into the shape of flowers were surrounded by small tarts – mushroom, cheese, and onion. There were bowls of fruit and skewers of vegetables – tomatoes and a pale kind of cheese – and handheld pies, blueberry and cherry. They toasted with bottles of something called lemonade that was tart and sweet all at once, and occasionally Jane would reach forward to wipe crumbs off his chin with a pink, silky napkin, her giggle almost as melodious as Uma's siren song.   
  
It was a peace Gil didn't feel that he deserved, but Jane was happy which was all Gil could ask for. He wasn't a good substitute for Carlos, but if he could be enough, that was what mattered.   
  
It was so easy that Gil almost didn't notice the way Jane's eyes widened in surprise, her gaze fixed over his shoulder. "Oh, I hadn't..."  
  
Gil turned to see what she was looking at on reflex, and almost felt his heart stop when it was Harry stalking towards them through the woods, a familiar scowl twisted on his lips.

He found himself on his feet before he could even think about it, running across the clearing with the sound of wind rushing in his ears. He should stop – maybe salute or something – but instead Gil threw his arms around the first mate, pulling him into a crushing hug. 

For a brief moment, Harry seemed to relax into the hold, his arms squeezing against Gil’s shoulders, and then-

“Put me down, ye big lug,” the pirate muttered. “Don’t make me regret leaving my hook behind.”

“Harry!” Gil didn’t know what else to say, could hardly believe that the first mate was standing in the outskirts of the dog sanctuary. “You’re here!”

“‘Course I’m here.” Harry made a show of rolling his eyes, though even that couldn’t hide the way he grabbed Gil’s hand – his _hand_ – and started dragging him back towards the picnic. “You’re here, Gilly.”

“Harry!” Jane was on her feet now, hands seeming to flutter awkwardly in the air before settling on Harry’s wrist, tugging him down towards their blanket. “I’m glad you made it.”

“I’m hardly one to pass up on free food,” Harry scoffed, like he knew about Jane’s surpirse. He released Gil’s hand (warm but calloused and strong) to hook an arm around his neck, pressing close to the blond’s side as he began picking at Jane’s feast. “Beautiful work as always, my pet. You’ve outdone yourself.”

A pretty blush stood out against Jane’s pale skin, and instead of feeling empty like he normally did when Harry flirted with someone in front of him, Gil felt glad, because Jane had outdone herself and she deserved the praise. 

“Thank you.” Long lashes fluttered against her cheeks as she turned a coy look onto Harry, who immediately preened under the attention. It caused him to subconsciously shift closer to Gil, and if the blond moved his arm he could maybe drape it around Harry’s waist, steady him in place, but that was a line he _definitely_ could not cross.

So he focused on the questions he could ask. “How is everything, Harry?” Blue eyes turned to him, still smudged in their signature liner, though this seemed more… pigmented? Not as faded as before. “Are you doing okay?”

Gil managed regular conversations with Uma but Harry was the enigma, always away, only answering his phone once out of every five calls. Gil hoped now that they were in the same place he wouldn’t make the same mistakes that he tended to make over the phone.

“Oh, I’m fine, Gilly.” Harry leaned forward, resting his chin on Gil’s shoulder. “Can’t say getting educated is quite as exciting as exploring but the Captain keeps me busy.” On Gil’s free side, Harry traced small circles against his bicep, just under his sleeve. “His Highness keeps trying to get me into Tourney, though.”

“You’d be good at it!” Jane broke in. She had settled on Gil’s other side and contented herself with passing Harry new treats. “It’s a great outlet for pent up frustrations-”

“I heard his sales pitch the first time, darling,” Harry drawled, rubbing his cheek against Gil’s shoulder.

“Well, maybe you could help Evie with her men’s clothing line,” Jane tried. “You like fashion-”

“I work for one woman.” Harry held a hand up. “And it isn’t _Evie_.”

It was weird seeing Jane roll her eyes. Until this point Gil was pretty sure she wasn’t capable of such a thing. “You’re so picky.”

Harry tensed. “I am not-”

“He refuses to do anything but mope,” Jane pressed, turning to Gil. “Or follow Uma around. He needs a hobby.”

“Why can’t you work with Evie?” Gil asked, trying to keep his tone tentative. “You like sewing, and she could be a good ally-”

“Who can think of _sewing_ when-” Harry cut himself off with a sigh.

Jane was unimpressed. “You need a hobby,” she repeated. “You can’t just work all the time.”

“Why?” Harry asked, narrowing his eyes. “Ye do.”

The blush on Jane’s cheeks darkened, though not likely from coyness. “I cook,” she said, gesturing to the food around them. “It’s a good creative outlet. I know you’re used to constantly working to survive-”

“Ye,” Harry leered, pulling away from Gil so he could scowl at Jane properly. “Don’t know _anything_.”

“And I will continue to know nothing if you won’t talk to me!”

Gil was beginning to think that he was witnessing an argument that had happened many times, and it was strange to see Jane so feisty and Harry so rattled, but it felt even worse knowing that he was truly the outsider in this conversation.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Do you guys um… want me to leave?”

“ _No!_ ” They said at the same time, sharing a look with each other before both of them went back to frowning at the food.

Okay then.

“Hey,” Gil said it quietly, resting a hand on Harry’s shoulder as a source of comfort. “You can trust Jane. She’s nice.”

“No,” Harry sniped. “ _Ye_ can trust Jane.”

“What’s the difference?”

“You’re-” Harry got to his feet with a scowl, throwing his arms up in the air in a gesture of surrender. “Ye! You’re Gil, ye can trust people. People can trust ye.”

Gil did not know what that meant. 

But this wasn’t about him, it was about Harry.

“People can trust you too.” It was important for Harry to know that. “I trust you.”

“Harry.” Now Jane’s voice was soft and sweet. “You’re worthy of my trust. You’re worthy of our care-”

“Don’t.” Harry shook his head sharply. “This is- was, stupid. I’m just gonna-” He turned to leave.

Gil’s heart leapt to his throat. “Don’t!” He moved to his feet quickly, and from the corner of his eye he could see Jane do the same. “Please don’t go.”

He didn’t have any right to ask it, but the words came just the same. And for some reason, they were enough to keep Harry still, to have him look between the two of them with a muted sort of wariness.

After a few tense seconds, he sighed. “ _Fine_. Let’s just-” He jerked his head to the side, motioning them to follow him towards a sunny-looking hill not unlike the one Gil had been resting on earlier. 

Harry sat himself down with a weary exhale, laying back to sprawl against the long grass like it was his personal bed. 

“Well?” Harry pressed after a few moments of indecision. “Get down here.”

Jane moved first, going to Harry’s far side before lying down. She seemed to think for a moment before curling into his side, making his eyes fly open in surprise before he adjusted accordingly.

And then both sets of blue eyes were on Gil.

“Get down here, Gilly,” the first mate ordered, holding his free arm wide. “It’s time for us to be lazy.”

Gil was never one to ignore an order, not when he could help it.

With a stomach twisting in knots, he spread out beside Harry, only waiting a second before turning to mimic Jane’s posture, resting his head on Harry’s chest.

The first mate didn’t do anything but grunt in annoyance, but his arms wrapped around them just the same. 

It was good. It was better than good.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“-and then Mal threatened to set her desk on fire,” Jane was saying, one hand gesturing freely. “Since she _‘obviously wasn’t using it to do her job **anyway** ’_.”

“Really?” Gil could picture it, Mal coming to the end of her rope. “Did she actually do it?”

“Unfortunately, I had to stop her.” Jane sighed, letting her hand flop back against Harry’s chest. “But one of the drawbacks of being a responsible leader.”

“Back on the Isle, that would have got her into shape real quick,” Harry drawled. “Then again, they wouldn’t have to deal with all this paperwork nonsense either.”

“What’s happening to the Isle, anyway?” Gil asked, watching Jane’s fingers tangle in some of Harry’s many straps, her hand moving absently. “Do people still live there?”

“Some,” Jane allowed. “But Ben and Evie have gotten a lot of programs in place to help meet housing gaps for those that had been imprisoned on the Isle for petty crime. They started with the kids’ programs first, of course – adoption and education – and then went from there. As the buildings get cleared out, Ben’s going to start construction on new facilities.”

“Like schools and stuff?” Gil followed Jane’s exploration and traced some of the straps that crossed Harry’s chest, taking comfort in the dizzying patterns they presented.

“It’ll be a new prison system,” she explained. “But a better one. One with prisoners separated by degree of crimes committed and aimed for rehabilitation rather than punishment.”

“And no kids?”

“Definitely not.” Her eyes were firm when she said this, like it had been an argument she had many times before. “We want a new Auradon going forward. A better one.”

“One that gives kids a chance,” Gil said quietly, and Jane’s resulting smile was worth everything he owned, it was so pure and bright.

“You guys having fun?” They’d been so involved in their conversation that Gil had missed Jay’s approach until he was leaning over them, seemingly upside down – his feet at their heads.

“ _Jay_ ,” Harry growled, his arms tightening around Jane and Gil. “Don’t ye have some dogs to be chasing?”

“Did that.” Gil could hear the smirk in Jay’s voice. “Heard there was food.”

“From who?” Gil asked, but he was ignored when Carlos meandered into their midst, plopping down beside Jane.

“Hey, Jane.” He bent over, pressing a kiss to her lips before pulling away with a smile, one that she shared with a brilliant flush. “Comfy?”

Her blush darkened, and Gil could feel his own cheeks heating up, even when he could feel Harry tense. “We are,” the first mate huffed. “ _T_ _hank_ ye.”

“Yeah, I bet you are,” Jay cheered, wandering towards their abandoned picnic. “I’d enjoy getting my chest felt up too.”

Belatedly, Gil realized that he was still toying with Harry’s straps and pulled his hand away as though he’d been bitten, Jane reacting the same on his other side.

“Sorry,” Gil said, just as Jane continued with- “I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s fine,” Jay waved them both off with a large grin. “You made all this, Jane? It’s amazing.”

“Wait till you taste it,” Gil said over Jane’s shy _‘thanks’_. “There’s these hand pie things. Harry-” He turned to his friend who seemed to be scowling up at the sky. “You’ve got to try the pie.”

“Sure, mate,” the pale teen grumbled. “I’ll be right with ye.”

“Mopey,” Carlos noted around a mouthful of tart, a smile tugging at his lips.

Harry’s scowl deepened. “I’ll show _ye_ mopey.”

“…guys?” Jane tried, but Harry was already on his feet, Carlos recognizing the signs one second before him and launching himself away, Harry hot on his tail. “I should have expected that.”

Jay shrugged, watching their chase with laughter in his eyes. “More food for us.”

“It’s all fun and games now,” Jane teased. “But wait until Carlos ends up in the pond.”

“Harry wouldn’t do that, would he?” When Jane gave no answer, Jay turned his question to Gil. “Would he?”

“Um…” As a person who had been shoved off the docks by Harry on a good day, Gil didn’t know what Jay wanted from him. “He would definitely do that.”

In the distance, Harry successfully managed to catch Carlos in a flying tackle and the two fell to the ground, wrestling in what had become a rather one-sided fight.

Jay sighed. “Guess I’ll go help.”

Gil cleared his throat. “If you do that then I’ll have to help Harry.”

The two of them locked gazes. Jane sighed.

It wasn’t that much of a surprise when Jay jumped to his feet, Gil half a second behind him.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Long story short, everyone ended up in the pond. 

Even Jane – though Gil had missed the _how_ of her arrival, mostly stuck with diverting his gaze when the wet material of her dress seemed to cling to her legs.

“Idiots,” Carlos muttered, spitting out a mouthful of pond water. “You’re all idiots.”

“Love you too.” Jay was smiling wider than Gil had ever seen him, taking extreme pleasure in messing up Carlos’ hair before turning his attention to Gil. “Great picnic, Jane. Ten out of ten, would dunk again.”

“Ye would _not_.” Harry batted his hand away from Gil’s hair before shoving him out of the water. “Ye got lucky.”

“Yes,” Jay preened. “Got lucky with all these _skills_.”

“Why do people like you?” Harry muttered, but it seemed almost amused, his hand settling at the base of Gil’s neck as he urged him out of the pond.

“He’s very good looking,” Carlos offered, wringing out his shirt. “A shame about that personality, though.”

“ _Carlos_.” Jay pressed a hand against his chest as though he had been physically wounded.

“Smile, everyone!” Jane said, ending further arguments by pulling them into a photo.

Honestly, Gil had no regrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for all of the lovely comments!! Your feedback is always greatly appreciated, especially since this is a new character for me – you guys are awesome!!! :D
> 
> Story notes:
> 
> Westerly is my name for Prince Eric’s kingdom, because as far as I know, it does not have one. I got the name from an Auradon fan map.
> 
> Fun fact – all the Imperial City scenes were the first thing I ever wrote for Descendants. Back when I was still trying to figure out how to write Harry’s accent, which inevitably ended with me changing all the ‘you’s to ‘ye’s and calling it a day. I know, truly inspiring ;D
> 
> Bet you thought I was going to write out that Ben/Mal visiting them scene, didn’t you? Unfortunately, Past-Paisley never got around to it and current Paisley wasn’t feeling it so let’s assume it all happened off screen *oooooh*
> 
> Carlos is… he’s trying, but change is hard, and he’s still adjusting to having a bounty of good in his life. Getting more is something he’s always going to be suspect of, that’s just his nature. 
> 
> Okay, so Central Auradon is the kingdom over which Adam and Belle initially rule, which is separate from Auradon – the union of kingdoms. Just to clarify. 
> 
> Sykes is the villain from Oliver and Company, and he had two fierce Dobermans.
> 
> Ulstead is Prince Phillip’s kingdom, it’s featured in ‘Maleficent – Mistress of Evil’.
> 
> Until next time :)


	4. What a Huge Disaster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING – Dubious Consent in the second scene. See endnotes for more details.

“You’re a simple one, aren’t you?” the lady asked, and Gil had no idea how to answer that question, let alone when pinned under the combined gazes of a small group of Ulstead noble ladies, who seemed kind of snooty in that way Lady Tremaine was, like they knew despite his fancy outfit and nice title that he really was garbage inside.

Gil didn’t really like Ulstead, or at least, he didn’t like the fancy party they’d been invited to, where everyone wore overly-fancy attire and had posture so perfect it made Gil feel self-conscious. He and Jay had gotten split up half an hour ago, and while Jay was tackling the unquestionably more difficult job of talking to the king and scary queen of Ulstead, Gil couldn’t help but feel sort of afraid when approached by the nobles he had tried to hide from.

“I um- maybe?” Gil answered, deciding to play it safe by going for a sort of middle ground, and this seemed to earn a chorus of giggles that the noble ladies hid behind their fans, sharing looks with each other not unlike the ones the rest of the crew had used when Gil was saying something particularly stupid.

“Oh, you really are a proper LeGume,” a different lady tittered, and Gil didn’t like that comparison, because he was pretty different from both his dad and brothers, something that used to be a constant bane for him, but now apparently it was a good thing, so he wasn’t sure where that left him in this conversation. “Tell us, have you achieved many wonderful triumphs on your trip through Auradon?”

“It depends on what you consider triumphs,” Gil said, earning another chorus of laughter for some reason. “We’ve discovered a lot, and that’s pretty cool.”

Granted, they mostly discovered things because magic had been ignored for so long and that was what Jay used to help uncover things, so really, it was like they were the first people to bring magic into the equation of exploring new territories.

“Do you hear that?” the first lady giggled to her friends. “He fancies himself an explorer.”

Gil shifted his weight uneasily. “That is um- the job King Benjamin gave us. We try to do it the best we can.”

“Just like you’re _ambassadors_ too?” a different woman laughed. “What a joke.”

At that point, Gil finally realized that he wasn’t misreading the situation because everything was fancy, but that they actually weren’t happy to see him like the other kingdoms had been, and granted, this was sort of the response he’d been expecting for a while, he just wasn’t super prepared to deal with it now that it was actually here.

“It was um- nice talking to you ladies,” Gil said, clutching his glass full of punch or whatever closer to his chest because his fingers had started to shake. “But I think Jay- Jadir, needs me.”

“What?” the leader said, and Gil noticed too late that they had him surrounded, that he’d have to wait for them to make a gap or actually elbow his way through them in order to get out, and he didn’t want to _touch_ them, because that seemed like a recipe for badness too. “You think you’re too good to hold our company?”

“No,” Gil said, because he’d never thought he was better than anyone. “But you guys are kind of mean.”

More than one person bristled at that, but Gil was sort of an expert on meanness at this point, having grown up on the Isle.

“What we are is _reasonable_ ,” the leader lady said, seeming to glare down her nose at Gil despite being shorter than him. Well, with the giant hair maybe she was taller. It was stacked very high. “It is preposterous for King Benjamin to send out two unqualified individuals as yourselves to act as his ambassadors. It’s an insult to Ulstead, to indulge in such uselessness. Obviously, he was just trying to get you two out of the way, and the rest of the kingdoms have to suffer for it.”

Gil didn’t say anything, because she was only saying what he’d already felt, and it left him with the distinct terror that maybe every other kingdom had felt this way but had just been kind enough not to mention it, had been kind enough to _indulge_ , but Ulstead was too efficient for such things so they didn’t want to. They valued their time and energy, and why would they waste either on Gil? 

“You know I’m right,” the woman pressed when she saw Gil’s expression crumble. “And you _dare_ to keep our company in spite of this.”

“I was trying to leave,” Gil explained, hunching in on himself reflexively no matter how low it made him look. “Please, I can just leave-”

“You’d better,” some voice huffed from behind him, and Gil was so anxious he didn’t even notice the shove until it was happening, a clumsy, unpracticed movement, and while it wasn’t very strong, it was certainly enough to take Gil by surprise, to have him jolting forward until he could regain his balance, except-

His hand flailed out, dumping the contents of his cup onto the leader lady, catching her square in the chest and staining the very intricate fabric of her gown.

“You _vile fiend_ ,” she gasped, pulling back in full outrage. “How _dare_ you.”

“I didn’t mean to-” Gil pressed, but he was interrupted by her tossing her own glass of champagne into his face, something the rest of the ladies seemed to echo in suit, until Gil was stained and drenched from head to toe, his head ringing with their deluge of insults.

“Back _off!_ ” Jay’s voice snarled from outside the huddle, and finally they cleared a path, pulling away to reveal Gil’s pathetic form, which might have been a relief if the King and Queen of Ulstead weren’t definitely behind Jay. “Hey,” the Agraben murmured when he closed in on Gil, who was trying very hard not to start crying – that had never helped in the past. “Are you okay?”

“Is _he_ okay?” the leader snarled. “Look what he did to my dress!”

“I think you’ve gained more than enough satisfaction by this point, Lady Nilsen,” the king of Ulstead murmured coolly, and with that he sort of dispersed the crowd while Jay led Gil out one of the small side doors and back to their guest quarters, Gil clinging to him like the idiot he was.

“I didn’t mean to,” he murmured, his face feeling hot with shame. “Honestly, I didn’t-” 

“I know,” Jay said, holding Gil closer.

The rest of their walk was in silence, but for Gil, it was only the beginning of his worries, because the incident might be over, but soon he’d have to deal with Uma’s response to it.

And _that_ was what he feared most of all.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Gil groaned when he saw his phone ringing on the bedside table, vibrating in place with a relentless buzz he knew wouldn’t quit until he picked up. There was no ignoring it, even if the call timed out they’d just call back, even though he wasn’t sure who it was, it would be someone who was forced to check up on him to get a damage report, get _answers_.

He didn’t bother getting up from the bed when he answered it. He had already failed so spectacularly, he wasn’t sure what else he could do to make things worse. It was a relief to see Uma’s face when the screen lit up, though that was immediately squashed under the crippling fear of King Ben standing right next to her, his brows furrowed because his plan had failed, Gil had made the plan fail, just like he was always going to.

“ _Gil_ ,” Uma seemed relieved, but maybe it was a relief that stemmed from the fact that he was in one piece for her to yell at. “ _Are you okay, baby?_ ”

“Yeah.” He forced a grin, though even it felt strained. “I’m great, how are you guys?”

“ _Gil_ ,” King Ben didn’t answer the question, likely because he recognized it as the stalling tactic it was. “ _We heard what happened from Jay. I’m sending my mom to clear up any diplomatic issues, but what happened wasn’t your fault_.”

“Right.” Except it wouldn’t have happened if King Ben had sent literally anyone else, so it sort of was. “Thanks, Ki- _Ben_.”

“ _Gil_ ,” Uma’s tone was commanding now, a certain tone that demanded Gil’s attention. “ _His majesty said it wasn’t your fault. Are you going to doubt royalty?_ ”

Would he doubt someone who was unquestionably smarter than him? When it was put like that… “No.” Gil swallowed. “Sorry.”

The king looked pained, maybe. “ _Gil…_ ”

“ _It wasn’t your fault,_ ” Uma repeated. “ _But you think it is_.”

“ _Uma_.” Ben’s gaze was on the captain now, not that she paid him any mind.

“ _Do you want a punishment?_ ” Uma continued. “ _Would it make you feel better to be punished?_ ”

“ _He doesn’t need to be-_ ”

“Yes,” Gil said, his voice just above a whisper. There were so many things he had done wrong, if he hadn’t fallen behind with his schoolwork, he wouldn’t have been so rushed on the etiquette stuff and none of this would have happened- or maybe less of it would have happened. He just- he needed an end to this feeling. “Yeah, I’d feel better.”

“ _Okay_.” Uma’s gaze was locked on his, her attention never wavering to King Ben, whose focus seemed to be split between the two of them. “ _Unbutton your shirt_.”

“ _Uma,_ ” King Ben chastised, but Gil didn’t let it stop him, the blond eager to follow his captain’s orders once more. 

He felt awkward unbuttoning his shirt, fumbling to do it with one hand, but that was the point. This was a punishment, and it was one Gil could actually follow. Something he could do right.

“ _Push it open_ ,” she ordered when he was done. He did just that, keeping his gaze off to the side. He knew his body was scarred, that they had likely both seen better – the king especially, but his comfort wasn’t the priority here.

“ _Uma_ ,” King Ben’s voice was a whisper now. “ _He doesn’t have to do this_.”

“ _Yes_ _he does_.” Uma was so beautifully sure. “ _It’s his punishment. Now_ , _eyes on me_.” Gil looked, unable to deny his captain anything. “ _Touch your nipples_.”

“ _W-What?”_ It was weird to see King Ben sputter, almost as weird as it was to prod at his nipples, taking the nub between two rough fingers and twisting. “ _Gil…_ ”

“ _Keep going, baby_.” Uma said ‘baby’ like she didn’t know what it did to him. Heat was pooling low in his abdomen, familiar stirrings in his stomach awakening a hardness he had struggled to ignore. “ _Pretend it’s my hands on you. Keep going_.”

He could feel the warmth flooding to his face, cheeks flushed as he followed Uma’s instructions, flicking and rubbing until he moved to the other side. There was something close to humiliation building in his chest, though maybe it was excitement. It was conflicting and too much, but Uma demanded more of him and Gil had to give it. This was his due.

“ _How does it feel?_ ” she asked, voice smooth as chocolate. He could almost taste it, and had to bite his tongue to keep his mind from straying to dangerous territory, of being allowed this close to Uma, as though she was actually there. 

“G-Good,” he stuttered. His hips jerked ever so slightly, and he was glad they couldn’t see it, couldn’t see how much it affected him.

“ _Do you like my hands on you?_ ”

“Yes.” Gil nodded, eyes half-lidded and hazy as he continued to attack the sensitive nubs, imagining Uma’s nibble fingers in their place. 

Impossible, Harry would never allow it, and maybe that was the punishment, that she knew what he wanted and this was as close as Gil was allowed to get.

She seemed happy with his answer, a pleased smile spreading across her face as Gil continued to tease himself. “ _Do you like Ben watching you?_ ”

There was a sharp intake of air that King Ben probably hadn’t meant for them to hear, but Gil shuddered anyway, squeezing his eyes closed. “Yes,” he whispered.

Mal was going to kill him. Or King Ben was going to take his job away and then Harry would hook him and Gil didn’t even care, couldn’t seem to stop his hand, because everything was hot and he had their attention. _Him_. Gil. King Ben could have walked away but he hadn’t. He’d stayed. Gil didn’t know why, but he’d stayed.

“ _Want to imagine his fingers?_ ”

“No.” Gil shook his head frantically, even as his hips canted up. He couldn’t do that. He wouldn’t dare. “No, I-”

“ _It’s okay, baby_ ,” Uma soothed. “ _It’s just me, then_. _And I’m tracing down your stomach, okay?_ ”

Gil followed her orders carefully, brushing across shaky muscles in a light caress he had only ever imagined. He kept the camera on his face because they hadn’t ordered him to move it, and he didn’t know what he’d do if they’d see just how hard he was straining against his pants.

“ _I’m gonna squeeze you next_ ,” Uma said, making Gil whimper as he echoed the action, cupping his groin and rocking into the friction. “ _You’re so big, Gil. Are you wet for me and Ben?_ ”

“…y-yeah.” Gil couldn’t focus on the king, not when it felt like he was falling apart at the seams. 

“ _I want to feel you in my hand_ ,” Uma ordered. “ _I want to feel how much you want us_.”

Gil couldn’t have stopped if he wanted to. He ground his palm down hard against the aching tent, gasping at the bolts of pleasure that shot up his torso. His chest heaved with exertion as he continued to palm himself, imagining Uma’s clever fingers, Ben’s attentive gaze watching every movement, watching _Gil_ -

“ _Are you close, baby?_ ” Uma asked, eyes half-lidded, Ben flushed beside her. “ _Are you gonna come for us?_ ”

“Yes, captain,” Gil breathed. “Yes, I’m gonna-”

He fell over the edge with a shout, coming hard in his pants. He could feel the sticky warmth clinging to him, but Gil didn’t care. He kept his palm in place as instructed, pushing himself through the last of his high until he was an oversensitive mess, his gasps died down to muted whimpers.

“ _Good boy_ ,” Uma said when it was all over. “ _Your punishment is complete_.”

“Uma… captain,” Gil gasped, not entirely sure what he wanted to ask her. 

Somehow, she seemed to know. “ _What happened here, stays here_ ,” she explained. “ _This changes nothing, except a punishment has been served_.”

“ _Right_ ,” Ben- _King_ Ben added, somewhat belatedly. “ _It’s okay, Gil. You’re okay_.”

Gil wished he could believe it, but King Ben still seemed out of it, but Uma- he listened to Uma, and she seemed satisfied.

It was all he could ask for.

“ _Go get cleaned up_ ,” Uma ordered. “ _We’re done here_.”

“Aye-aye, captain,” Gil murmured, then ended the call before the extent of what he’d done could catch up to him. It hadn’t felt like much of a punishment but he knew that was the trap. He’d been a show for them, nothing more, and he couldn’t forget that.

What happened there stayed there.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Gil felt a bit jittery after the punishment. After Ulstead. 

Jay did his best to make Gil feel comfortable, constantly giving him pep talks and making sure the blond stayed by his side for the next few fancy parties. Gil knew the Agraben did that because he cared about the blond, he was being supportive and nice and a good guy like the hero he was, but even with the punishment, Gil didn’t feel like he deserved such attention. 

He tried not to pull back though, because when he did that, it seemed to only make Jay more worried. He did his best to fake his happiness until Jay bought it, until he started to believe it too, and it was fortunate that he was so dumb or else no one would believe how quickly he got over what those noble ladies had said. Not that he’d told anyone, no matter how many times they asked. He pretended the conversation didn’t happen, that he hadn’t realized he was surrounded and that he’d tripped instead of getting shoved, and while no one seemed to really believe him, they were too busy with their own things to really push him on the issue.

“What’s being simple mean?” Gil asked Doug during one of their study sessions together, Evie’s boyfriend smiling at him because he was doing a better job not mixing up the letters.

Doug gave him a quizzical look from where he was displayed on Gil’s tablet, the musician working at his own desk as he reviewed Gil’s work on his laptop. “ _In what regard?_ ”

“Um…” Gil struggled for a moment to figure out what that meant, but luckily recovered before Doug could catch his confusion. “For people, I guess. What’s it mean when a person’s simple?”

Doug’s brows drew together in an uncomfortable look he hadn’t worn since they’d first started working together and it became how obvious how very dumb Gil was. “ _That they’re lacking in intellect_ ,” Doug explained, which wasn’t a huge surprise. “ _Though it can range from the implication that an individual’s intelligence is hampered for biological reasons to simply expressing a distaste for someone for their perceived lack of smarts, as it were_.” He was frowning now. “ _Did someone call you simple?_ ”

“No,” Gil said, a little too quickly perhaps, so he shoved a smile on his face to make up for it. “No, I just saw it in one of those movies while Jay was working out. I didn’t get it, but now that you explained it, that makes sense.”

“ _Okay_ ,” Doug said, his shoulders seeming to relax some. “ _But if um… if anyone ever calls you that, Gil, please know that isn’t true. Not by a long shot_.”

It was nice coming from Doug, who understood just how much Gil lacked in the brains department.

“Thanks, Doug,” Gil said, even if the musician was only trying to be kind because he was one of those quiet heroes, the ones that didn’t need stories even if they definitely deserved them, the ones that would be generous and nice because they always felt compelled to do the right thing even if no one was watching.

If anyone should be signing autographs and going to fancy parties, it should be Doug, and sometimes it made Gil sad that he was the one getting all the glory when he hadn’t done much of anything in the end.

“ _You’re welcome, Gil_ ,” Doug said, giving him one of those genuine smiles that he’d never hesitated to share even before they had saved Auradon, when it was just Gil accompanying Doug and Jane to find Fairy Godmother.

He’d been kind then, and all Gil had been was the misfit son of Gaston.

Sometimes it staggered Gil how genuinely amazing the people of Auradon could be. For every snooty Ulstead noblewoman there was a Doug, and Gil was glad that it was the latter he was allowed to interact with most of the time.

Just- it was cool, was all, even if he’d earned it mostly by chance.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Atlantica was fun but mostly terrifying because humans weren’t supposed to be that deep underwater, but still, it was cool to see the place that would have been Uma’s homeland had her mother been a lot less evil.

Then again, Gil also wouldn’t have met her if that was the case, so in a distinctly selfish way he was kind of glad that Ursula had been banished to the Isle, even if it ultimately meant that Uma had suffered.

He wasn’t the greatest guy, was his point.

There was also the minor disappointment that Uma hadn’t been able to come out and join them for this part of the trip. She’d planned to, but there had been some kind of minor emergency with some of the refugee group housing that she consulted with, so Jay and Gil explored Atlantica on their own, equipped with the charms Uma and Mal had enchanted for them that allowed them to breathe and see underwater. Their wetsuits and flippers didn’t allow them to be as maneuverable as the mer-people, but still, they were able to get by enough to have a good time. 

They learned some dances and took a lot of pictures (Gil insisted), and then they stumbled upon some kind of celebration that Gil didn’t understand, but the mermaids were kind enough to include them anyway. It involved everyone pairing off – holding hands with their buddies and getting some kind of sea-flower wrapped around their wrists until they learned new flower-specific dances to do with each other.

Jay and Gil were easily the worst, something that seemed to leave Jay helplessly embarrassed, but overall it was a lot of fun. That particular celebration also seemed to encourage a lot of kissing on the cheek, which Jay was kind enough to indulge Gil in, giving the blond a small fluttery feeling inside that he should really learn to ignore at some point.

Still, it was fun, and ultimately harmless, which for Gil was a definite relief.

-:-:-:-:-:-

That was it, Gil and Jay really needed to stop exploring caves.

He didn’t care if the Cave of Beasts thing worked out alright, and that most of the time they came out unharmed with some amazing new discoveries under their belt – he cared for the moments like _now_ , when they were supposed to be having a lazy trip in the depths of the Inca jungles after parting ways with Emperor Kuzco – who had been super nice and taught them a lot of new dance moves.

Moments like now when Jay’s runes had told them the area ahead was stable only it _wasn’t_ stable, or maybe it had been but that was before the construction that was taking place on top of the mountain that Emperor Kuzco hadn’t warned them about set in, because it was so far off the path they were supposed to be exploring in the jungle that he hadn’t thought it would be necessary. To be fair, they _had_ found a cool hidden temple that Jay had located by removing hundreds of years of greenery with a sweep of his magic. That had been cool, as was the fact that the temple had been some kind of retreat for Incan magic users. That had also been neat. But then Jay had activated some kind of teleportation network that took them to the mouth of some cave, and obviously it was _important_ so they’d continued their explorations, unaware of just how far they had wandered. 

It had been Gil’s idea to explore the cave. Gil had been the one to push because he’d been scared – and how dumb was that, that he wanted to go in so Jay wouldn’t know how nervous he was? But he’d played it cool and cheerful, not knowing Jay had been attempting to determine a way to reverse their teleportation to take them back to the temple the entire time, and in the wake of Gil’s enthusiasm he crumbled, deciding hey, why not check out the obviously important cave?

Gil really hated his luck, sometimes.

To be fair, the cave had been cool, hidden by its own layer of vegetation and obviously ignored by people for a long time. They discovered a lot of rare crystal components that had been used in potions and alchemy back in the day (or, Jay had discovered them while Gil lingered nearby, trying to look unworried). It had made Gil feel a little better about everything, made him think that his anxiety had all been for nothing, and then the ceiling had started shaking, rocks falling down, and that was the last thing he got a clear look at before the floor beneath them gave out and sent him and Jay sliding down a series of tunnels, the sounds of the cave collapsing ringing in his ears. 

Their slide wasn’t smooth, causing them to brush against rough outcrops, getting scrapes and bumps and bruises until they were finally dumped into some kind of underground cavern, coming to a jarred halt in terrible, unrelenting darkness.

It took a moment for Gil to get his bearings, his pulse pounding in his ears, gasping for breaths as the spike of adrenaline slowly faded away. His body hurt a lot, but he’d been through worse with his dad. When he felt settled, he turned towards Jay, who seemed to be curled up beside him, his own breaths coming in slow drags. 

“Jay?” Gil murmured, fumbling for his flashlight while he felt for the Agraben’s shoulders. “Jay, are you alright?”

Jay didn’t immediately answer him, which was fine, he was probably just as surprised by what happened as Gil was. The blond paused his efforts with Jay to turn on his light and felt another pulse of anxiety shoot through him when it wouldn’t turn on. He must have busted it in the fall or something, and Jay had been holding his flashlight before the cave in. Gil didn’t feel it in his hands now, which made whatever calm he’d managed slowly drift away, especially since Jay still wasn’t talking.

“Jay, um- do you have your flashlight?” Gil asked, feeling up the Agraben’s arm. He shifted higher, heart hammering in his chest when his fingers grazed Jay’s neck, but it didn’t seem to be twisted, everything all in one piece, his pulse still pounding underneath Gil’s fingertips.

The blond flushed, moving his hands higher, away from the intimate space (hands against your neck never meant anything good on the Isle, and to allow someone access to that part of you in a friendly capacity – that was a level of trust Gil himself had never earned). He felt carefully at Jay’s head, trying to remember the first aid class Jane had insisted both of them attend before leaving on this trip, and felt his breath catch the moment his fingers felt wetness.

There was- there was a lot of it, because Jay had bashed his head on something, leaving behind a sizeable gash that was leaking so much blood, and even though Gil couldn’t see it, he could feel it, could smell it now, the tiniest whiff of iron. He felt his hands begin to shake, because head wounds always bleed a lot and head wounds were dangerous and difficult to treat and Jay had been knocked out cold, leaving Gil by himself.

He needed- he needed his backup flashlight, he needed to get the first aid kit. He needed to use their emergency beacon that Carlos had designed for them after Apheliotia, but to do any of that, he needed to _calm down_ , because he couldn’t do anything when he was upset.

So Gil started humming, searching helplessly for Uma’s melody, clutching onto it the same way he held onto Jay, waiting for the familiar tune to bring him some kind of comfort. He was stuck in the dark again, but that was okay, he had another flashlight. Jay was hurt, but that could be fixed. It could all be fixed. Gil might feel alone, but he wasn’t actually, and that mattered a lot, it mattered-

A buzz, Gil didn’t know, but there was something, and then suddenly the wetness around his fingers seemed to vanish. Between one moment and the next, it was gone, making Gil do a double take. He felt up the entirety of Jay’s head just to be sure, but the gash… it was gone, or maybe it had just never been there. _Maybe_ Jay had gotten some kind of goo or slime or moss on him on the way down, and he was just unconscious because he’d overexerted his magic to keep them safe, or something. He wasn’t- he was fine, he wasn’t going to die, Gil wasn’t going to be the reason he was dead because they’d entered a cave he’d wanted to ignore in the first place.

It all happened quickly, and Gil tried not to dwell on it. Instead, he pushed on, fumbling for his backup light and activating the emergency beacon before he picked Jay up in a fireman’s carry, falling back on the information Doug had given them after Apheliotia on what to do if they were lost in a cave because he was part dwarf, and dwarves were experts on the underground.

It took Gil about half an hour to find his way towards sunlight, and around that time Jay was waking up _and_ an emergency crew was pulling up to the small waterfall the cave had led out to, which was another fun discovery in itself.

Okay, at least he’d done something right. That was a comfort. That was- that was more than enough for him.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Gil was pretty sure Inca wasn’t close to Central Auradon, but despite this, Mal and Uma still showed up when Jay and Gil were getting looked over in their private hospital room despite the worst of their issues being cuts and bruises. Before they came in, Gil had comforted himself by watching Jay very enthusiastically talk to Emperor Kuzco about organizing a second excursion into the caves so they could collect some of those magic components, the emperor eagerly latching onto his excitement in between bursts of apologies because if he’d _known_ there was a cool magic mountain in his empire he definitely wouldn’t have approved the permit for construction of some kind of resort on the top of it.

“Really, I should know better by now,” the emperor was saying as he looked over the roughly sketched maps that had managed to survive the cave in. “Mountaintop paradises are not meant for Inca, we gotta work _with_ the wildlife, man.”

“Maybe you could build something by the waterfall,” Jay offered with more confidence than Gil could ever conceivably fake. “Like, make a nature retreat or something.”

“Brilliant, brilliant, that idea is brilliant,” the emperor said before testing Jay’s reflexes with a complicated high five they had invented within minutes of knowing each other, and they were maybe three quarters of the way through it when Mal and Uma stormed onto the scene. “And that is my cue to leave,” Emperor Kuzco declared before more or less scampering into the halls, and Gil would laugh at the image but suddenly he had a face full of upset Uma, which was entirely more pressing.

“Here,” she muttered, pulling her shell necklace off before putting it _around his neck_ – Gil, the guy who definitely could not use the ancient magic artifact. “I have decided you need a second emergency beacon.”

Normally Gil wouldn’t protest, but this was Uma’s, and he knew he’d made her look bad with all the accidents, but the idea that she’d need to babysit him this much, to show the world that she didn’t think he was capable by making him wear her necklace- it hurt a little. “But-”

“ _No_ ,” Uma snapped, pulling his bandana off so she could run her fingers through his hair, trying to make him look like less of a mess. “We take no chances.”

“Jay, you _baboon_ ,” Mal was griping from the other side of the room. “You have liaisons for a reason. You need to contact them when you change your plans to avoid _this_ kind of stuff!”

“But the rocks,” Jay said, and they must be really something special because he’d been going on about them for a while. “They change _so much_ , Mal.”

“Don’t sweet talk me like you knew they were there before you went in,” Mal sniffed, but she was smiling when she said it, happy to cuddle Jay and mess with his hair until he was letting out low groans of complaint.

It was an easy sort of thing, a _friendly_ one, and Gil ached at the sight of it because Uma was mostly mad even if she was feeling him over too, searching for wounds so she could know for sure that her muscle was in good condition.

“Gilbert,” Uma said, realizing she had lost his attention. “What did I say about being the voice of reason?”

Gil felt his shoulders slump. “I’m sorry, Uma.”

“If you’re going to gripe at anyone, gripe at Jay,” Mal offered from where she had more or less invaded Jay’s bed, sprawling out beside him. Unlike Gil, Jay had been properly tucked into his bed by the nurses due to his loss of consciousness, none of them wanting to take any chances even if the scans came back negative, whereas Gil was mostly using his as a chair, perched on the side of it because he felt bad at the idea of lying down when he wasn’t really hurt.

“Oh, I plan to,” Uma huffed, but despite her annoyance, her fingers were still gentle against Gil’s scalp. “After I make sure Gilly’s okay.”

Because she had to, because she’d claimed him. Because Uma took in the underdogs and fought for the ones no one else wanted. 

It still confused Gil, how Harry could fall under that category, but he assumed that was because no one else could keep up with his passion.

It was something Gil got to experience firsthand because Uma nudged her phone into his palms when she was done, initiating a video call to Harry before she moved to the other side of the room to glower at Jay. Gil would focus on that, but Harry had a scowl on his face that said he wouldn’t be ignored, so even though Gil didn’t understand why Uma wanted him to talk to the first mate, he knew better than to give Harry less than the entirety of his attention.

Gil had messed up, and he deserved whatever chastisements Harry had for him.

That was just the way things worked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all the lovely feedback!! I know this is a crazy time of year for all of us, but it’s always a nice highlight to my day (and a nice break from the chaos) to hear from you. Your support is, as always, greatly appreciated!!! :D 
> 
> Story notes:
> 
> To clarify, the king and queen of Ulstead are Phillip’s parents – John and Ingrith, who are featured in the movie ‘Maleficent – Mistress of Evil’. 
> 
> Lady Nilsen is entirely made up for the purposes of this story to be an evil background character. I think she does the job well enough :)
> 
> As far as I can tell, Kuzco’s empire doesn’t have a name, so I referred to it by what it was based on, I think, I researched this a long time ago, so I don’t really remember.
> 
> WARNING – Dubious Consent – in the second scene, Uma initiates a ‘punishment’ for Gil over video chat, leading to phone sex that while all parties are interested in, he still views as a punishment despite Uma intending it as a treat (the first scene will give this more context). If you would prefer to skip that, you can bypass the second scene altogether (it basically comes down to some reassurance that what happened in the first scene was not Gil’s fault), or you can read down to this line:
> 
> “Yes,” Gil said, his voice just above a whisper. There were so many things he had done wrong, if he hadn’t fallen behind with his schoolwork, he wouldn’t have been so rushed on the etiquette stuff and none of this would have happened- or maybe less of it would have happened. He just- he needed an end to this feeling. “Yeah, I’d feel better.” 
> 
> Then skip the rest of the scene. 
> 
> Until next time


	5. The World is Calling

“ _You did well today_.”

“Thanks, Ben.” Gil smiled through a shudder, trying to hold onto his baseline cheer. He liked it when Ben praised him, and the king did it a lot, more than Gil warranted, really, but instead of pointing that out he soaked up each comment like a flower reaching towards the sun, petals desperate for more. “I mean- Jay did most of the work, so you should really be talking to him.”

All Gil had done was carry Jay after getting the Agraben knocked out because of his dumb choices, but everyone ignored him any time he tried to point that out, so he’d given up by this point.

“ _Don’t sell yourself short_ ,” Ben seemed so sure, so steadfast and serene that it was hard to look him in the eye, easier to bow to his might. “ _Jay pretty much said the same thing about you. It’s amazing how humble you guys are._ ”

“Lies and um… slander,” Gil parroted what seemed to be Harry’s favorite catchphrase. “Jay isn’t humble at all.”

Ben laughed, a golden sort of melody almost as intoxicating as his praise. “ _Maybe not, but he was pretty insistent you be given your due_. _And it was a pretty important due_.”

Gil could feel the heat building in his cheeks, knew he couldn’t hide the stupid flush if he wanted to. He hated how easy it was for him to feel bashful in front of Auradon’s king, but he supposed that was just the effect royalty had on mere peasants like him.

“ _Gil_.” Ben did that, said his name when it seemed like his attention was wavering, when the king really wanted him to focus. It was devastatingly effective, and even when Gil felt unsure, he met Ben’s eyes, felt warm under the small grin that was tugging at his lips. “ _You did very well today, and I was thinking…_ ” Ben’s gaze flicked off to the side like he was contemplating something before landing on Gil once more. “ _I was thinking you deserve a reward_.”

Immediately, Gil felt a familiar heat building in his chest, mind straying back to grassy meadows and Carlos’ own idea of ‘ _rewards_ ’ and ‘ _presents_ ’. Gil was glad he was sitting down, the desk blocking his lower body, because he would have hated for Ben to see the way his legs spread reflexively, eager for something he couldn’t have.

“Oh.” Gil tried to look anywhere but the phone. “What um… did you have in mind?”

“ _I know we said we wouldn’t talk about it-_ ” Was not a promising beginning but tell Gil’s stupid body that. “ _And we won’t, but last time you said_ …” The connection must have soured some because it seemed like Ben’s cheeks had darkened in a blush of his own. “ _You like it when I watch you?”_

“Um.” Gil’s heart was pounding frantically in his chest, as though making a dedicated effort to have him pass out then and there. “I mean- please don’t-”

“ _It’s okay_ ,” Ben rushed to assure, because that was the type of human he was. One that tried to talk down people who kidnapped him and made compromises instead of getting justifiably upset at dumb people who groveled after him. “ _That wasn’t an accusation, I just thought… since you did so well today, if you wanted to…”_

Was he offering what Gil thought he was offering? No, he had misread something, had to of-

“ _It stays between us, just like last time_ ,” Ben pressed. “ _And it’s **only** if you want to, but I thought… you deserve a reward_.”

“I-” Gil’s breath seemed caught in his throat. It really wasn’t a problem of what _he_ wanted. “I don’t… want to make you watch if you don’t want…”

“ _What?_ ” Ben seemed genuinely confused, and Gil knew a thing or two about confusion. “ _No, Gil. I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t…_ ” The connection got worse again. “ ** _Interested_** _. I just want to make sure you’re comfortable. We don’t have to do this at all, I could- maybe arrange for Harry to join you guys? How about that?_ ”

“No, I-” Traitorous mouth – Gil hated himself, because he had been offered the rest of his crew, or the part that mattered, but _still_ , he wanted this. Because he could have it here and now. “No, that’s… I’d like the um- first thing, if you’re okay with it.”

“ _Okay_.” Ben seemed breathless when he said it. “ _Alright, I… do you want me to um- guide you? Like Uma did?_ ”

Gil shuddered. “…Y-Yes, please,” he murmured, not daring to raise his voice above a whisper. 

“ _Okay_ ,” Ben repeated. “ _If um- I do something you’re not comfortable with, just say so, alright? This is supposed to be a reward, so I don’t want to do anything that doesn’t make you happy_.”

Having the king’s attention in itself made Gil happy, getting that _and_ the extra consideration for his feelings seemed preposterous, but Uma had said the same thing to him before he’d left on this trip, about how his opinions mattered, about how they were Auradon people now so he didn’t have to do anything he didn’t want to.

The problem was, Gil was pretty sure he’d want to do anything Ben told him, but he nodded just the same.

It was a comfort to have the option to say no.

Ben cleared his throat. “ _Unbutton your shirt for me?_ ”

It was easy, now that Gil had both hands free. Still, his fingers seemed clumsy against the buttons, the extra straps seeming uncooperative, but Ben never rushed him, and eventually Gil pushed the shirt open, exposing pale, hairless skin.

“ _Good_ ,” Ben murmured. “ _You’re doing great, Gil_. _Could you take it off for me?_ ”

Gladly, Gil thought, feeling intoxicated by the gentle praise. He discarded the shirt in jerked movements, letting it fall to the side.

“ _Could you_ …” Ben worried at his bottom lip, making it seem a darker red. “ _Your hair – could you let it loose?_ ”

“Yeah, I…” Gil nodded, reaching for his hair tie with shaky fingers. He hated how bright it seemed after being exposed to so much real sunlight, but hopefully the connection would be bad enough to hide it, the shadows enough to make it appear the boring dirty blond it used to be back on the Isle. 

He shook his head, letting the curls settle around his shoulders, and tried not to feel dumb over how it was this and not losing his shirt that made him feel naked.

“ _…wow,_ ” Ben breathed, and it was almost like he meant it, like Gil was really that pretty or something. 

The tone had Gil ducking his head, deceptively wishing he had taken Ben up on his second offer, like he should have.

“ _Sorry_ ,” Ben offered, because that was- that was _Ben_ , apologizing just for saying stuff. “ _Could you take um… two fingers into your mouth_?”

Gil flushed. “What?”

“ _My fingers_ ,” Ben pressed, gaze steady even if his breaths weren’t. “ _I want you to suck on them_.”

Gil squirmed in his chair. “Ben _-_ ”

“ _You’re worthy_ ,” Ben said, so very determined. “ _I say you are, and I want you to, but only if you want to_.”

Gil wondered if Uma had explained it to the king after last time, even though his unworthiness was supposed to be a secret. It was preposterous that they’d talk about that, about _him_ like that- Ben must have come to his own conclusions because he was smart. 

Unable to think of any other arguments, Gil slid two fingers into his mouth, allowing his eyes to fall closed. He sucked on them carefully, running his tongue along the digits and soaking up the taste of salt. He worked them in and out of his mouth carefully, spurred on by Ben’s unhindered gasp.

He opened his eyes slowly, and it was probably a mistake, because Ben seemed almost as affected as Gil was. And he couldn’t help but wonder if heat was building low in Ben’s groin too but of course it wasn’t- not from this, it was just a reward for Gil-

“ _Okay_ ,” Ben said after a few minutes, his gaze wavering between Gil’s lips and spit-soaked fingers. “ _I’d like to touch your nipples now, if that’s alright_.”

A needy keen spilled from Gil’s throat before he could stop it, hips shifting forward at the blunt declaration.

“ _It’s okay_ ,” Ben soothed. “ _You’re doing great, Gil. You’re so pretty like this_.”

It was easy to get lost in the haze of Ben’s compliments, following his directions like second nature. It was easy to pretend Ben’s gaze was fixed on Gil’s chest as he played with himself, but it never felt judgmental or cruel. Everything here was safe, and Ben’s words were calming, and the spit acted as a lubricant to make everything easier, the small nubs coming to hard, rosy points. 

“ _So good, Gil-_ ” Ben was saying – words Gil could get lost in. “ _You’re doing great. Now I’d… if it’s okay with you, I’d like to undo your pants. **Just** your pants. Is that okay?_”

“Y-Yeah,” it came as a gasp, but Gil already had one hand tracing down his chest, fumbling against his zipper to provide some kind of relief. “I, um…”

“ _I’m gonna touch you now_.” Ben gave orders as easily as Uma, with the same expectation that they’d be obeyed, but this- it was for Gil’s benefit, and he couldn’t help the way his hips twitched at the thought, Gil being given _instructions_ to slide a hand into his pants by a king. A _king_. “ _Does that feel good?_ ”

“Yes.” Gil nodded his head in jerky movements, hips grinding into the firm cup of his hand. With only the thin material of his underwear acting as a barrier, everything seemed more intense. He imagined Ben cornering him against a wall, sliding a hand into Gil’s clothes because he needed a quick fix and Mal had allowed it, had given him the all clear and Gil would never deny him, eagerly thrusting into long, regal fingers that would dare sully themselves on someone like Gil.

“ _I’m gonna use my other hand to play with your nipples, okay baby?_ ”

Gil shuddered at the pet name, swallowing a whine as he rutted into his palm. Ben must have picked that up from Uma, but it came so easily, like it could be true. Gil brought up his free hand just to distract himself with Ben’s orders, rolling and pinching the tender nub as he got closer and closer to the edge.

“ _Are you ready, Gil?_ ” Ben asked, eyes half lidded, hands braced against the desk in front of him. “ _I want you to come in my hand, okay? Can you do that for me? Can you say my name?_ ”

“Ben,” Gil gasped, working himself up into a frenzy. “Ben, Ben, Ben- _Ben!_ ”

Gil fell apart with a shout, hand stilling against his chest as he focused on the pulsing heat between his legs.

“ _Keep going, Gil_ ,” Ben ordered, and Gil could not disobey, letting out small croons as his hand shifted against oversensitive flesh, until he was finally finished.

When he came back down, it seemed like Ben was breathing as hard as he was, chest heaving with sympathetic exertion, his cheeks darkened.

“ _Wow, that was…_ ” His throat bobbed in a smile. “ _Was that a good reward?_ ”

“Y-Yes.” Gil was embarrassed to admit as much, but Ben had been ‘ _interested’_ , and that meant he couldn’t have entirely hated it. He wouldn’t have done that, not for Gil. Not for anyone. “That was- thank you.”

“ _That **you** , Gil_.” Ben was grinning now. “ _You’re the one who deserved this_. _And we can- if you ever want to do it again-_ ”

Gil flushed. _“Ben_.”

“ _We’ll go on a case-by-case basis_ ,” Ben said, as though Gil had any chance of understanding what that meant. “ _You okay, Gil? Do you want me to stay with you while you um- clean up?_ ”

Just when Gil thought there was no possible way for more blood to rush to his face, Ben had to say stuff like that. “No, I can- I’m fine.” He could do it by himself, he didn’t need supervision, though he understood Ben’s concern. There was a reason he and Harry had worked together to first figure out the showers. “T-Thanks, Ben.”

“ _I’ll let you get going, then_.” Good but bad because Gil didn’t want the spell to be over but he needed to come back to reality, to memorize this because it probably wouldn’t happen again and it was- it was _good_ , so good, a goodness he had to hold onto.

“Bye, Ben,” Gil whispered. He waited for Ben to cut off the call, too reluctant to do so himself. 

Still, his stupid brain couldn’t help but imagine Ben joining him in the shower, ‘ _helping_ ’ him clean off, and it might have led to a repeat performance – granted, a shorter one, and Gil feeling just as conflicted and confused as before.

He slept well that night at least, in that he didn’t dream at all.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“I need a favor,” Jay said one day, and it was so genuinely bewildering that Gil didn’t even feel self-conscious about how potentially dumb he might look, because Jay never really needed anything from him more than piloting the boat. Everything else he could do himself, usually better and with less problems than Gil could. 

“Um… what is it?” Gil asked, fidgeting with the moldy ring Harry had given him so long ago.

“The Hanover visit,” Jay began, as though Gil was dumb enough to forget that their next port of call was the mythical land of Queen Snow White herself. “We’re going to be there the same time as they’re hosting fashion week.”

“And?” Gil prompted, because neither he nor Jay were really all that into fashion. That was more of an Evie or Harry thing.

“It turns out that our welcome ball coincides directly with when Evie’s presenting her collection on the main stage,” Jay said, making Gil’s stomach drop. He had an idea of what Jay was going to ask. “So I was wondering if you could hit up the fashion show while I handled Queen Snow and all the nobles? Ben’s going to be there with Mal, and he said he’d help me with the diplomacy stuff.”

That… was not at all what Gil had thought Jay was going to ask. If anything, he figured Jay would be the one who wanted to go to the fashion show to support his friend.

The Agraben seemed to read Gil’s confusion in his expression, but it wasn’t like Gil was making an effort to hide it. “I wanna be there for Evie, but she’d have my head if I neglected my diplomatic responsibilities. But if _you_ go, she still has moral support, and I um… sort of promised I’d model some stuff for her. That was before we got our final schedule-”

“You want me to _model_ stuff?” Gil asked, his face flooding with an immediate, embarrassed heat. Like, he already felt a little shaky about being in the same kingdom as Ben, despite the fact that he had promised Gil’s rewards were a secret and didn’t mean anything. It was Gil that was being dumb, as always, but now there was _this_. “I um- I don’t think I can do that.”

“Sure you could,” Jay chirped, always supportive. “You’re a good-looking guy, and you already look great in Evie’s clothes.”

The heat in Gil’s face intensified, because he knew Jay only meant that in a platonic, objective way. But still, coming from him – an unquestionably good-looking person – it felt a little overwhelming.

“I’m clumsy, though,” he said, fidgeting more with his ring, even if Harry had told him it was a bad habit. “I might rip them or um- trip, and then I’ll make Evie look bad.”

And Gil didn’t want that. Evie was too genuinely _nice_. It sort of ached how kind she was sometimes, and she was dating Doug, who at this point had expended more patience with Gil than almost anyone else in the blond’s life (save for like, his uncle, who loved him unconditionally, even if that hadn’t been an evil thing to do).

“You won’t,” Jay soothed, looking so certain. “You haven’t tripped up during our stops for months now.” Gil opened his mouth to mention the incident in Ulstead, but Jay gave him the same look Uma did when Gil tried to bring it up, because no one wanted to accept that was his fault even if it was. “And Mal’s modeling too. I was going to walk down the runway with her, so she’ll have your back the entire time.”

Mal wasn’t Uma, but Uma seemed to like her more and more nowadays (something she hinted at reluctantly, which was how Gil knew it was genuine), and if Uma trusted her, Gil knew he could too. There was also the fact that the _king_ trusted her enough to marry her, and she was a protective dragon lady, so she’d probably protect Gil too if push came to shove.

After all, she’d tracked Gil down when he’d been hiding in Doug’s bushes all those months ago. She hadn’t even made a comment on it. This new version of Mal was the epitome of non-judgmental, and she was Jay’s friend.

Still, modeling seemed kind of scary. All those people looking at him… it was something his dad would have loved, and the fact that he was nervous about it just went to show how bad a LeGume he was.

Except that was good now.

“It’d be a favor, Gil,” Jay urged, taking Gil’s silence as the hesitation it definitely was. “A huge favor. A large, unquestionable favor which means I would owe _you_ a favor of equal large and unquestionableness going forward.”

Oh, that was- that actually sounded pretty nice. Gil wasn’t the best negotiator so he rarely earned things like favors, but Uma had impressed the importance of them a long time ago. Owing them to people was terrible, but it was important to collect them whenever you could.

“No questions asked?” Gil pressed, parroting the words Harry had urged denoted the best kind of favors.

“No questions asked,” Jay repeated, his smile stretching wide now that they seemed to be getting somewhere. “You do this, and I’ll owe you big time.”

“Okay,” Gil said, because maybe you weren’t supposed to owe debts to friends, but the opportunity seemed too good to pass up. Worst comes to worst, Gil could always defer the favor to Uma for her own usage, which could earn him some brownie points of his own. 

Maybe he could negotiate for like, cookie points though. Or cake points. Gil found he quite liked cake; they came in so many _flavors_.

“Great,” Jay chirped, giving his shoulder a firm clap. “Come on, I’ll show you the schedule – and remember, Evie and Mal will be with you the entire time.”

Gil sort of hoped Doug would be there too, so he could properly thank the guy in person. He did it online a lot, despite Doug insisting he didn’t need to, but for Gil, there were principles. Important, important principles.

It was crucial not to owe debts. 

Good thing Gil had so many presents to give Doug. Just- _so many_.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“You’re doing great, Gil,” Evie soothed as she finished settling his jacket on him, the princess feeling the need to help him get dressed in case he got all the buckles and zippers confused or something, and Gil would have been insulted if he didn’t know for a fact that this was a very reasonable concern. 

Still, it left him getting touched by Evie more than was probably good, because she was really pretty and definitely taken and even if she wasn’t, she was entirely out of his league, so Gil just had to stifle the urge to shift restlessly in place while he _also_ tried not to stare at where Mal was sliding into her own clothes, because the two of them had their own private dressing station. 

They were the only non-models in the entire show, though Mal huffed the one time Gil had mentioned it, stating that if they were wearing clothes down the runway, they were models, end of discussion.

“It will be okay,” Evie continued, sensing Gil’s rising tension because he wasn’t great at hiding it. He wasn’t really used to people looking at him unless he had to be like, a menacing threat just over Uma’s shoulder. That was his usual specialty. Even months of meeting people across the united kingdoms, taking selfies and giving autographs for whatever reason, dealing with nobles he didn’t have any right to talk to – Gil still wasn’t all that comfortable with the focus he received, even if Uma told him he deserved it. 

She said he should _strut_ , as though he was Harry or something. 

Man, Gil wished he was half as confident as Harry. He wished Harry was _here_. If anyone could pull off modeling, it was him. 

But instead, Evie was stuck with Gil, and she was too nice to even look concerned that this might be a bad idea.

“Come on,” Mal huffed when it got closer to time, the two of them lining up with all the other models while Evie gave a speech about her collection. “It’ll be great, we’ll smile and wave and people will adore us because one, we’re awesome and two, we’re wearing awesome clothes, and then when it’s all over, we’ll get chili cheese fries.”

Gil perked up at that last part, because despite all the varying foods across Auradon, chili cheese fries seemed to be somehow universal. 

“Do you think we can get milkshakes too?” Gil asked, because those came in a million flavors as well, and Gil and Jay had made an effort to try as many of them as they could. Well, actually, they tried to do that for sort of all desserts, but Jay said they deserved it. They worked hard, they should ‘treat’ themselves.

Gil was only sad that he couldn’t bring back some of the food he tried to Uma and Harry. He made a running list to make up for it, things he wanted them to experience when he got back to Central Auradon, assuming they still wanted him. They might have gotten used to not having him around.

He really hoped that wasn’t the case.

Mal’s grin widened into a mischievous sort of thing that Gil would have feared two years ago. Now he got to bask in it and smile in return, because she was a good guy now and she wouldn’t hurt him. “Oh, we’re _going_ to have milkshakes,” she declared. “Think if we turn up the puppy eyes enough, we could probably get burgers too.”

“Wow,” Gil said, with no amount of irony (that was a thing people did, apparently) and Mal laughed _with_ him, not at him, before the show was underway and they were thrust into the eyes of the public.

Despite practicing earlier, Gil was still sort of scared, especially with all the flashing lights, so he defaulted into his usual protective smile, waving the hand that hadn’t been claimed by Mal. He wanted to blush at how easily she held his hand, but it wasn’t like people would think he was stealing her from the king or anything. This was a friend-thing, friends did this in Auradon. 

They stopped at the end of the runway and posed together, and then they were in the back and getting changed for their next set of outfits before Gil really even knew what was going on.

“You did amazing!” Evie cheered, now helping Gil out of his clothes. “Thanks so much for doing this, Gil, I really appreciate it.”

“It’s my um- honor, Evie,” Gil said, and the grin that earned him really wasn’t fair, because if the magic mirror had to pick the fairest of them all _now_ , Gil was pretty sure it would have to be Evie, even if in his own heart Uma would always be first.

Mal held his hand for the rest of their walks, joining in with his waves and it got fun near the end, and Gil didn’t even rip anything or fall off the runway like he was afraid he might. 

Afterwards, Evie dragged them to a small reception where he and Mal sported yet another outfit courtesy of the princess, though this was theirs to keep, and Gil was a little scared at the interviews and autographs and selfies, but Mal held his hand for some of that too, proving that she really was devoted to this hero business.

Later, they’d sneak out to some small diner where Ben and Jay joined them, and Gil would get to properly talk to Doug who had been hyping up Evie at the reception, and it was all really nice. 

Gil found himself between Doug and Jay, and they split baskets of chili cheese fries and tasted each other’s milkshakes (even the _king_ , which Gil was a little embarrassed by but Jay spoke up anytime someone looked like they might call the blond out on it, safely stealing their attention away). They had amazing burgers and Jay regaled them with everything Gil had missed at the ball and Mal regaled _him_ with their killer runway walk until she and Gil were forced to recreate it for them by walking up and down the length of the diner, which should have been embarrassing but was mostly pretty fun.

Overall, it seemed like the best way to acquire a favor.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“ _You did great out there_ ,” Uma informed him the next time they video chatted, because apparently the fashion show had been broadcasted live, and she and Harry had seen the video from Central Auradon. “ _They treat you right?_ ”

“I got chili cheese fries,” Gil offered by way of explanation, because he wasn’t sure what else to say. “And um- look, Doug even cleaned my jewelry for me!” He chirped, showing off the now-gleaming ring Harry had given him and the oxhead necklace that didn’t look as muddled as before. “ _And_ I don’t owe him anything because I helped out Evie.”

“ _That’s good, Gil_ ,” Uma said, and Gil tried not to get too ecstatic by that, even though he loved Uma’s praises. At least, he loved the confirmation that he did something okay. “ _And nothing else happened?_ ”

Gil paused, a new flood of worry gripping his chest at the possibility of missing something. “Um… no?”

“ _Mal held your hand a lot_ ,” Uma said, trying to give him a hint, maybe. “ _She do anything else?_ ”

“She growled a guy that kept making these weird faces at me,” Gil said. “I think he was just checking out Evie’s clothes, though. He stared at them a _lot_.”

There was a pause, and then Uma rolled her eyes, and Gil didn’t know if this was at him or Mal. “ _Anything happen after the diner?_ ”

“Jay and I went back to the ship,” Gil said. “King Ben offered to let us stay the night in their suite, but I’d had enough excitement for one day.”

Finally, that seemed to earn him a smile. “ _Good call, Gilly_ ,” she said, busting out his nickname, which earned the happiest of tingles in his stomach. “ _Never do anything you’re not comfortable with, that’s an order_.”

He liked it when she reiterated her orders, even if she only did it because he wasn’t good at remembering them.

Still, some orders were hard to keep.

“Will do, captain,” Gil lied, feeling sort of awful about it, but this entire trip was out of his comfort zone and she said he was doing _so well_ , and he couldn’t disappoint her now. Not when his grades were still not up to par.

“ _Stay vigilant, Gilly_ ,” Uma hummed, her expression very serious. “ _We get nothing in life for free_.”

Gil swallowed, because Uma knew that better than anyone, and he wanted more than anything to make her proud, or at the very least, content.

“Yes, captain,” Gil said, plastering on his very best smile. “I won’t forget.”

There was always a cost in the end. For Gil, the exception had been his Uncle LeFou, but for everything else…

Well, he had to be careful, that was all.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Corona was exciting because it was definitely a friendly kingdom, with its early criminal reforms and steadfast refusal to use the Isle (except in the case of Mother Gothel, because she was super evil). They didn’t really get a chance to meet the royal family, but they were led around by this dude named Lance who was apparently tight with King Eugene, and he and his two adoptive teenage daughters showed Gil and Jay the ins and outs of Corona, ending with a picnic in a nice field full of flowers.

“I like how they take care of their criminals,” Gil excitedly told Jay when they were retreating back to the ship that night, because Corona was a port kingdom, so it was easier to commute from their ship than it was the royal castle. 

“They do have some of the best reform numbers,” Jay countered with a small grin. “They also have some of the lowest crime rates, though it’s kind of ironic, considering they have one villain who was never properly caught.”

“What do you mean?” Gil asked, because Corona seemed to be doing pretty well for itself, as far as he could tell.

Jay cleared his throat. “Remember those black spikes?”

“Oh yeah, those were scary,” Gil said, thinking back on the large, impenetrable wall that had been outside the wall border of Corona – something Lance and his daughters had raced them down the length of on horses borrowed from the royal guardsmen. When Gil had asked, Lance had explained it was an important training activity.

It had been fun, except the unsettling view of mile high black, crystal spikes erupting out of the dirt in the distance outside of Corona that formed a wall of their own, things that seemed to stretch up-up- _up_ , until they formed their own kind of huge, crystal dome not unlike the Isle of the Lost. Except like, it couldn’t be seen through.

“That’s the Dark Kingdom,” Jay explained, which Gil thought was a kind of appropriate name. “You know how Queen Rapunzel has magic healing powers?”

“Yeah,” Gil said. “That’s why her hair’s so long, right?”

Gil was glad he didn’t have magic healing hair. He was pretty sure it would be a hopeless, tangled mess if he had to be responsible for that much hair.

“Right,” Jay said, and Gil smiled, because he was keeping up. “Her powers come from a magic gem called the Sundrop. The Sundrop belonged to Corona, and the Dark Kingdom had its own magic gem called the Moonstone.”

“That makes sense,” Gil said, wanting to continue the feeling that he was contributing.

“Apparently,” Jay pressed on, shooting him another easy smile. “The Moonstone’s power was inherently destructive unless in the right hands. The people of the Dark Kingdom were tasked with protecting it to make sure it went to the right person, which just so happened to be the one who could wield the Sundrop.”

That was all super cool, but Gil was a little confused as to how Jay knew all this stuff. 

The Agraben seemed to catch his look of befuddlement.

“Ruby told us about it back in school,” Jay explained, which was right, Jay went to school with princes and princesses, and Ruby was the heir to Corona with her own golden hair that dragged on the floor. “Anyway, so like, a really long time ago, Queen Rapunzel and King Eugene set off towards the Dark Kingdom to get the Moonstone and neutralize its powers, right? Because it had a tendency to randomly destroy things without anyone keeping it in check, only when they actually got to the Dark Kingdom, they were betrayed by Queen Rapunzel’s lady in waiting – Cassandra.”

“What?” Gil startled, because he hadn’t expected that plot twist at all. “But she was a noble person!”

“Yeah, and so was Hans,” Jay reminded him, because right, anyone could be evil. Like, the Evil Queen was an _evil queen_. You didn’t have to be a commoner to surrender to the sway of villainy. “So Cassandra stole the Moonstone for herself – and Ruby wouldn’t say what happened after that because apparently it’s some kind of royal secret, but the short of it is, Queen Rapunzel couldn’t beat her, but with the help of King Edmund – the leader of the Dark Kingdom – they were able to trap Cassandra inside the Dark Kingdom and contain the destructive powers of the Moonstone.”

Wow, that all seemed super duper epic. And also kind of sad, but mostly intense.

“Those crystals haven’t moved ever since,” Jay continued. “So while Corona is the most successful kingdom when it comes to dealing with crime, they still have one villain that they’ve never properly dealt with.”

“That’s… kind of sad,” Gil settled on. “That whole kingdom’s worth of people lost their home because of that Cassandra lady.”

“Ben said that Corona was able to find new homes for most of them, and those they couldn’t they settled in surrounding kingdoms,” Jay said, which was a definite comfort. “Mal and Uma have been trying to make plans to tackle the problem, but as long as Cassandra’s locked behind the wall, it isn’t really a pressing issue.”

“Thank goodness for that,” Gil said, and then he changed the subject to happier things.

He’d had about enough talk of villains to last him a lifetime, if he was being honest.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“I was thinking,” Jay said with that pinched look that indicated he was, in fact, thinking. “We should go up to the Dark Kingdom border.”

“Why?” Gil was normally all for supporting Jay’s plans one hundred percent, _no questions asked_ , but based on everything they’d heard about the border, he wasn’t sure why Jay would want to go there. “We won’t be able to get in or anything.”

Gil hoped.

“Evie wanted to see if I could collect some rock samples,” Jay explained with a shrug. “That stuff’s supposed to be indestructible, but she thought maybe with my magic I could…” He waved his fingers in a fluttery pattern that made Gil giggle. “And since we’re close, and I’m all for fueling her and Doug’s scientific binges, I thought we could go check it out?”

It seemed like something he really wanted to do, but he still phrased it like a question, because Gil’s opinion _mattered_. If Gil said no, then they wouldn’t go, even if that meant disappointing Doug and Evie.

It was a heady thing.

Gil cleared his throat. “Um… sure. I mean, we could probably take some cool pictures while we’re there, right?” Maybe it would make Mal inspired to paint something. He always liked looking at her artwork. King Ben seemed to be the only one to get this, and he sent pictures of them frequently, to Gil’s embarrassment.

Jay grinned. “Right,” he said, firing off a finger gun at Gil. 

It had taken Gil awhile to realize that was supposed to be _corny_ as opposed to _threatening_ , which was how he’d initially interpreted the finger gun.

The border itself was intimidating. Jay drove them up in a jeep they borrowed from the Corona garage, but there really wasn’t a whole lot to see. Aside from the three story high black, jagged rocks that seemed to have erupted out of the ground, reaching high into the air to form an impenetrable barricade, there wasn’t anything of note. It was sort of scary, to think that an evil sorceress was on the other side of those rocks. Assuming she wasn’t dead.

“Just give me like, ten minutes,” Jay said, strolling towards the barricade with a lazy sort of prowl. “If I can’t figure something out in that time, then I’m probably not going to, and we can head on to Arendelle.”

“Where there will be _snow_ ,” Gil sang, bouncing over towards a different section of intimidating rock. He wanted to get a cool profile shot of the barricade for Mal. Something about the different levels of jagged rock spikes would probably appeal to her. “And _reindeer_. Man, that’s going to be so cool. _And_ we’ll get to ice skate-”

“You’ve definitely been reading up on all the tourist pamphlets Doug sent you,” Jay mused, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Yep,” Gil chirped, trying to focus the camera Jane had given him for _official ambassador duties_. “Did you know that Arendelle is one of the few kingdoms in Auradon that was allowed a special exemption for the magic ban, much like Agrabah, Wonderland, and Neverland? And it’s not just because of Queen Elsa. Like, they say the elements are especially active in Arendelle, and Mal says they have _trolls_ , but not like the ones on the Isle of the Lost, which-”

Gil trailed off when he felt Uma’s shell begin to warm against his chest, and when he looked down, it was glowing. 

Which was… weird. It normally only did that if Uma was using it, but Uma wasn’t there, and _Gil_ wasn’t using it.

“‘Which’ what?” Jay asked, sounding half distracted. He had a swirl of red energy surrounding one of his hands, and his eyes were narrowed in concentration as he focused on a small black spike settled near the base of the barricade.

“Um… Jay?” Gil asked, feeling somewhat unsettled. “Are you using Uma’s necklace?”

“What?” Jay glanced at him distractedly and paused, shocked by the glowing shell, indicating that he wasn’t, in fact, using it. “I… maybe it activated because of me?”

“I mean, _I’m_ not doing anything,” Gil said, turning back to stare at the barricade. “Do you think-”

To be honest, Gil wasn’t sure how he had planned to finish that sentence. Things devolved sort of quickly, his eyes half refusing to acknowledge what they were seeing because Lance had sworn that the barricade hadn’t moved in years, that the spikes were harmless, but Gil could see a crack forming right in the middle of the spikes, shooting up towards the sky.

“Gil!” Jay called, startled because the ground was shaking, rumbling because the barricade was-

It was pulling open, enough to reveal an impenetrable gloom inside. The Dark Kingdom.

Uma’s shell gleamed brighter.

“ _Gil!_ ” Jay shouted, and Gil didn’t know why he was panicking until he felt something wrap around his waist – darkness, from the look of it. He had no other words to explain it, but it was dark and unrelenting and he couldn’t shake out of its grasp no matter how hard he tried.

And then he was getting dragged inside.

“ _Gil!_ ” Jay screamed, and that was all Gil heard before the light vanished, the barricade slamming shut behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bum, bum, BUUUUUM!
> 
> Yep, now we’re on to the ‘good stuff’ ;)
> 
> Thanks so much for all the support and feedback, guys!!! Things are sort of crazy this month with all the holiday preparations and whatnot, so it’s always a nice highlight to my day to duck in and read your comments :D
> 
> Story notes: 
> 
> Just to clarify, Mal totally knows about Ben and Gil’s video calls. More will be revealed later in the story, so I don’t want to give too much away now, but Mal both knows and supports what’s going on.
> 
> Canonically, Snow White’s kingdom is referred to as ‘Charmington’, but I renamed it Hanover in my own personal canon as that sounds more like an actual country.
> 
> Lance Strongbow is Eugene’s friend from the Tangled Animated Series, which is super cute, you should watch it if you get the chance.
> 
> For the purposes of this story, the border to the Dark Kingdom is significantly closer to Corona than it is in the Tangled Animated Series.
> 
> Until next time :)


	6. Castles Made of Sand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GENERAL WARNING – There is the tiniest of panic attacks at the end of scene 3. Nothing strong enough to warrant a detailed warning, I think, but I wanted to give the heads up just in case. 
> 
> WARNING – There’s a nightmare at the beginning of scene four that references back to scene one, see endnotes for more details.

“Well, well, _well_ ,” a voice seemed to purr in Gil’s ear, reverberating everywhere, surrounding him from all directions, like he wasn’t lost enough as he was. “What do we have here?”

“L-Lady Cassandra?” Gil asked, struggling to remember the name of the traitor that had stolen the Moonstone and gotten trapped in the Dark Kingdom to contain her corrosive magic despite Jay literally telling him about that like, two days ago. 

She’d gotten him, somehow, and he didn’t understand it. The stones were supposed to be impenetrable. They’d used her magic against her.

“That’s me,” Lady Cassandra jeered, her voice seeming to manifest all around him, leaving Gil spinning as he clutched onto the only light source he had, Uma’s shell necklace. “But _who_ , dear, are you?” The shadows seemed to move in a blur – and then there was a flash of turquoise light, Gil blinking when he belatedly realized that was her hair that was glowing – revealing an older woman with a crazed smile – the magic of the Moonstone trailing down to create patterns in her black armor. “You feel like Rapunzel, but that couldn’t be true – I got rid of her son years ago.”

That didn’t make any sense. Corona didn’t have a prince, only a princess, with long hair that dragged all the way onto the floor.

“Unless…” Cassandra’s head tilted to the side in a show of interest. “Are _you_ him?”

“N-No,” Gil said, stumbling to the side when she seemed to glide forward. The spike wall was still behind him, so he tried not to back himself into a corner, strafing to the left as he tripped over the unrelenting dark expanse of Cassandra’s prison. “No, I’m um- Gaston’s son.”

“No, you’re hers alright,” Cassandra hummed, the glow of the Moonstone building higher. So she had magic _and_ she was crazy and of course Gil had managed to run into the crazy magic woman. “And you have enough power from the Sundrop in you that I can finally summon Zhan Tiri.”

“I- I don’t know who that is,” Gil babbled, panic building in his chest. “I’m not- I don’t have any sundrops. I’m just Gil.”

“Oh, _Gilly_ ,” Cassandra purred, twisting the nickname he’d come to cherish so very much. “You have more than you could possibly know.”

She reached a hand out for him, forcing him to push backwards, his feet continuing to catch on hidden outcrops in the darkness. He fumbled for his knife and felt stupid that he didn’t have any more weapons, but this was supposed to be a quick trip, ten minutes and then they could move on to Arendelle and _now_ she kept babbling about him being something he wasn’t.

“ _Gotcha_ ,” Cassandra hissed when her hand curled into his collar, trapping him in place with her shadowy tendrils. “And would you look at that?” she murmured, the hand with the Moonstone cupping his jaw, and he didn’t know what happened, he only felt the change, a certain heat building along his scalp until the area flooded with a new, pulsing light, only-

Only it was coming from his hair. His _hair_ was glowing, seeming to respond to the Moonstone, and that- that shouldn’t happen, that shouldn’t be true, _this couldn’t be happening_.

“There you are,” Cassandra sang, shifting her hand up to pull at his glowing locks. “Just a few of these and that terrible dome will finally come down.”

She tugged, and Gil could have told her it was useless. His father had pulled Gil along by his hair for most of his childhood – it wasn’t going to budge. It never did. Gil couldn’t cut it if he tried, he couldn’t stain it dark with dirt or coal. It was too resilient, and she was learning that the hard way, her lips curling into a frown when the glowing hair resisted her attempts.

“ _No_ ,” she hissed, glaring at his locks. “No, you’re not _her_. You’re a weaker strain, this shouldn’t-”

More tugging, and Gil could do nothing but tremble uselessly, tears rolling down his cheeks. He wished Uma was here. He wished Harry was by his side so he could yell at Gil for being such a baby. He wished Jay wasn’t outside the wall and he wished he wasn’t trapped in this awful darkness. 

He wanted to go home, go back to Uma, he wanted to beg for forgiveness for having to abandon her for a year, wanted to apologize for not being smart enough, but mostly, he wanted to plead for her protection, because she’d always stood up for him when he was too weak to do it on his own. His fingers clutched for her glowing shell necklace, taking comfort in its warmth because he at least had that, had _this_ , and when he felt it buzz under his fingertips, he followed that, the new light in him shifting with Uma’s magic and he didn’t know what he was doing, only that it felt right.

“Hey,” Lady Cassandra said, her hand loosening in his hair. “What are you doing? What-”

She gasped, and Gil opened his eyes to see that her suit seemed to be disintegrating, the impenetrable rock made by the Moonstone seeming to fall away from her body. The stone itself was hovering in the air just before Gil, and while he didn’t really know what to do, didn’t understand what was going on, he felt compelled to grab it, combining it with the power of Uma’s shell to create an unquestionable ray of light.

“ _No!_ ” Lady Cassandra crooned as the world started shaking around them, and belatedly, Gil realized the barrier was coming down, that the unrelenting darkness of stone was shifting into something brighter – purples and turquoise and curls of gold, and that was – that was Uma’s colors, the Dark Kingdom was shifting into Uma’s colors, it was coming free. “Stop it!” she snarled, but without the Moonstone she didn’t have any power, and could only watch on, helpless. “Stop this at once! That’s _my_ power, not yours, I won’t go back to the wings-”

A pulse, Gil didn’t know, and she seemed to fall to pieces, disintegrating along with the rest of the poisoned Dark Kingdom magic.

When the dust finally settled, Gil tried to catch his breath. And then, with the last of his composure, he grabbed the box Doug had made for them from his pocket and shoved the Moonstone into it, cutting off its magic for the moment until it was just him, standing there.

That was- he’d just-

That was not a ten-minute trip.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Gil felt like he was going to throw up. He didn’t know what had just happened, but he could feel the Moonstone humming in the safety of Doug’s magic-protected box, something that had been so terrifyingly powerful reduced to a tame sort of buzz for _Gil_.

His fingers clutched at his hair desperately, checking and rechecking it for magic glowing powers, but nothing came. He was fine. It was fine. Everything was back to normal except the Dark Kingdom wasn’t so dark anymore, spikes vanished because of… whatever he’d done. What had he done?

The box he set aside, scrambling for the worn bandana that had been yanked off in the chaos of Cassandra’s ranting. He wasted no time shoving it back on his head, tying his hair back with one of the many backup ties Evie insisted on shipping him (because Gil lost them so easily, even though he didn’t mean to). When that was done, he shoved the ponytail under the bandana for good measure as well, which left him nothing to do but contemplate the small box that seemed to change everything and panic. 

He was good at panicking. He was certainly getting better at it. That was what happened when you practiced.

“Gil!”

The blond flinched at the sudden intrusion even after he recognized it as Jay, the other teen sprinting through the winding path (now a pretty, shimmering turquoise, unlike the ugly stone from before).

“Gil!” Jay was out of breath when he finally reached the blond, though his hands fumbled for Gil’s shoulders, like he wanted to see if he was really there. “What happened? After you got sucked in the spikes started receding and…” He blinked as though he finally registered the colorful buildings springing up around them, any sign of destruction they once bore totally gone. “…This does not look that dark.”

“Yeah,” Gil agreed. “That’s ‘cuz of magic, I guess.”

“Magic,” Jay repeated. Then- “Gil, we have to go, that Cassandra lady-”

“She’s dead.” Gil said it even though he hadn’t really understood what had happened, but yeah, the pile of crumpled stone that Cassandra had dissolved into was impossible to miss against the now-colorful city road. He motioned towards it. “She kind of fell to pieces.”

Jay stared at the pile, then stared at Gil. “…The Moonstone?”

“Here.” Gil was glad to get rid of it, pressing the box into Jay’s hand and releasing it before the teen could try to leave him with it. “It’s in there, now. And it isn’t destructive, apparently.”

At least, so long as you weren’t crazy ladies that were desperate for glory or whatever. It was pretty deadly to them.

Jay stared at it. “Gil, how did you do this?”

Gil went with the truth. “I- I don’t know.” 

“You don’t know?”

“I mean-” Gil flushed. “It happened kind of fast.”

Jay sighed. “Well, we’ll think of something to tell the king and queen on the way back to Corona.” Jay grinned. “Guess you’re a big hero, now.”

Gil felt his stomach drop down to his feet, a hollow sort of ringing flooding his ears. “No. No, Jay.” He reached forward, clutching at the other teen’s elbow. “You have to- I’m calling in my favor.”

“What?” Jay’s expression was a cross between concerned and confused, a thing Gil was so familiar with that he couldn’t possibly mistake it.

“My favor,” Gil pressed. “The no-questions favor. I want you to take credit.”

“ _What_?” Jay’s brows rose towards his hairline, his gaze beginning to get panicked. “Gil, I can’t do that.”

“You have to.” Jay had said as much, had _promised_ as much. “I get one favor and I’m calling it in. You have to tell them you did this. That you’re the hero.”

Not Gil, never Gil. They hadn’t come out here to enter the Dark Kingdom, they had just wanted to get some samples. Harmless samples before they set off north, towards the snow.

“Gil…” Jay seemed pained now. “I don’t even know what you did.”

“Just say you used some of the sorcery powers you got from your dad.” Jay was still training, just like the others, and he’d used magic enough on their trip that it could be believable. “And you’re not sure what you did, or if you could recreate it, but somehow it worked.”

“Gil-”

“No questions,” Gil repeated. “We say you did it and I was the one that got locked outside the barrier. Cassandra challenged you and the Moonstone turned on her and she fell to dust. That’s the story, okay?”

He could improvise as he wanted – Jay was good at that kind of stuff, at building up the details. The only other person who could possibly call them out on it was currently a pile of ashes, so Gil wasn’t worried. 

This was fine. Everything was fine.

“ _Okay?_ ” Gil pressed, because sometimes these things needed emphasis, needed repetition to finally stick, and he needed Jay onboard with this. 

Eventually, Jay’s resolve crumpled. “Okay,” he sighed. “Okay, we’ll tell them I did it.”

“And I got locked outside,” Gil repeated. That was the important part. “You’re the hero, you return the Moonstone, and everything will be fine.”

They’d be off to Arendelle by the next day. Two days, tops.

“If this is what you want.” Jay seemed sad when he said it, but he pocketed Doug’s box all the same, which was pretty much his way of giving approval. 

“It is,” Gil promised. “It really, really is.”

There. Crises averted.

Maybe being an explorer wasn’t so hard after all.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Jay found him later hidden in the upper levels of the ship – one of the ones with a retractable skylight that allowed the soft Corona sunshine to spill into the boat. Gil was sprawled out on the floor – hiding instead of writing his report, instead of doing anything that could have been considered productive. He had already spoken to Jane and Doug who had promised to update the others who were busy smoothing out the political side of things – Ben, Mal, and Evie working up a furious whirlwind of paperwork while Carlos, Uma, and Harry tried to remind them to eat and rest sometimes, or so Gil had been told. 

Were Gil a better person, he would have stayed with Jay while he was fussed over by Corona officials, would have stood to witness the royal decree that proclaimed him a hero, the paparazzi swarming him as he recounted their rehearsed tale of victory. Were Gil a smarter person, he would have done his part of boosting Jay up as the hero he was meant to be, would have played up his own non-contributions, but no one had ever accused Gil of being wise so instead he was hiding out in the place that had become closest to home.

“Hey.” Jay crossed through the room slowly, only the waning Corona sunset lighting his features. He’d been gone for most of the day. “You okay?”

“I should be asking you that,” Gil mumbled, watching Jay sit down next to him from the corner of his eye. “Is everything good?”

Jay sighed. “They bought it, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Relief, strong and relentless, surged through Gil’s chest, even though literally every news station had been covering Jay’s triumph. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

Gil swallowed. His throat felt rough and unsteady. “I’m sure. I…” Wanted to forget the whole thing. The less that was said, the better. There was no point in confusing their stories anyway. “I’m sure.”

Jay considered him for a moment, then shifted, digging through his pocket to reveal- 

“They gave it back,” Jay explained, as though Gil somehow wouldn’t recognize the box Doug had made for him, couldn’t feel the Moonstone humming within. “Since I did such a good job restoring the Dark Kingdom, they thought I should keep it. Protect it.”

Gil could hear the slight emphasis when he said _‘I’_ , pressing the lie they had created as though it would break Gil’s resolve, but it wouldn’t. 

Jay was still talking. “As the guy who _actually_ restored the Dark Kingdom, you should have it.” Gil felt panic building in his chest when he realized Jay was opening the box, drawing it closer to him and he could feel it- “It doesn’t make sense for me to-”

He cut off when the first ray of light spilled from Gil’s bandana, the blond’s hair responding to the gentle call of the Moonstone by habit. Gil could feel the blond tresses straining against the brown cloth, and pulled himself up to avoid Jay’s stare, gaze fixed on the Moonstone’s soft, blue glow.

“…Gil.” Jay said it in a whisper (confused but… awed?), and with great reluctance, Gil pulled off his bandana, allowing the rest of his hair to spill out.

Immediately, it spread around him, floating harmlessly in the air as though he were underwater, spilling a radiant light that filled the small lounge.

“How?” Jay asked, his eyes never leaving Gil’s hair.

“I don’t know.” Gil wished he had answers, but he didn’t. “Just- the spiky rocks reacted to me and then that Cassandra lady was yelling and-” Gil shrugged, helpless. “I wouldn’t have been able to stop her without Uma’s neckless, but when I got the stone back…” He reached for the shining opal, Jay gasping when the stone seemed to hover between Gil’s fingers, not quite touching him. “It’s not bad,” he explained. “It doesn’t mean to hurt, it just… it didn’t know what else to do.” He had felt the Moonstone’s pain, something that was aware of its power and frantic to protect itself from falling into the wrong hands. The Moonstone was capable of great things, but it had been scared, and didn’t know enough of the world around it to be able to differentiate enemies from friends. “It’s hard to see in the dark,” he said, eventually.

The Sundrop had healed because it had a clear vision of the outside world, healed without judgement because that was the cost of sight. There was a balance to these things, and now Gil had the Moonstone, a pulsing orb that was happy to greet him, the light in the darkness.

He didn’t know how he knew that, but now that he’d had time to process what had happened under the barrier, he somehow knew all that to be true. Knew it, and was terrified by it, because that wasn’t the kind of inherent wisdom Gil should ever have.

He settled the stone against his left wrist and watched as pale tendrils automatically wove around it, creating a sort of carrying bracelet. When it had settled, Gil covered it with a spare bandana, knowing he’d be requesting custom gloves from Harry in the future. 

As soon as the opal was hidden, Gil’s hair stopped glowing, falling around his shoulders in messy curls. He wasted no time twisting it back into a pony and shoving it under his bandana, until as much of it was hidden as possible.

“That’s why you’ve been wearing like that,” Jay said quietly, when the light had finally faded away and they were left in mostly darkness, Corona’s sun a faint memory in the night. “Gil…”

“Please don’t tell.” Gil grabbed onto his shoulder desperately. “Please, Jay-”

“But,” Jay’s throat bobbed in a swallow, and he looked conflicted because he was a good guy, and good guys wanted to do the right thing. “But your hair, it- that means you’re related to the queen, right?”

“My dad’s Gaston,” Gil reminded him, like it was something the world would ever let him forget. “I can’t- you know I can’t be related to some queen. I don’t know why the Moonstone’s nice to me, but I don’t- we shouldn’t confuse them, or anything, I don’t want to make any trouble.”

He ignored the stuff Cassandra had said under the spike barricade because she had been crazy. There was no point in dwelling on it.

“It wouldn’t be trouble,” Jay soothed. “But I- this is something they should know. Maybe… maybe Queen Rapunzel had a secret sibling or something and they went to the Isle. Maybe that’s your mom-”

“It doesn’t- it doesn’t matter,” Gil said. “ _Please_ , Jay,” he pressed. “I don’t- I don’t want to-”

He swallowed. He could feel his breaths coming faster and faster, until it was getting difficult to talk.

“Gil-” Arms wrapped around him immediately. “ _Breathe_ , Gil. It’s going to be okay. Just- match me, okay?”

“D-Don’t tell,” Gil wheezed, tears building at the corner of his eye. “P-Please, d-don’t-”

“I won’t,” Jay soothed, rubbing small circles on his biceps. “But you’ve got to _breathe_ , Gil.”

“No one.” Gil looked to him desperately, because Jay had to understand what he was asking for, he _had_ to. “N-No one, Jay. Just _us_.”

It wasn’t a fair request, because Jay told Mal and Evie and Carlos everything, had worked to do the same for the rest of them even though they were new. He had a soft spot for Ben that seemed to spread to Jane and Doug, and he respected Uma and Harry as Gil’s favorite people, and Gil- he knew he was nothing in the grand scheme of things, but he needed Jay’s silence on this. He would return the favor for anything, gladly, but he needed _this_. 

Eventually, he felt Jay nod against his shoulder. “Just us,” he repeated.

The vice in Gil’s chest seemed to loosen ever so slightly, and even though he was still terrified, he could breathe. 

They fell into total darkness trying to fight for equilibrium, but Gil focused on Jay, on matching his breaths, on his steady presence and not the gentle caress of energy murmuring against his skin.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Darkness flooded his eyelids and choked at his throat and filled his ears until they were ringing with a numbness that echoed through his core. He could feel it pushing, relentless, shoving harder and harder until it completely snuffed out Gil’s light, consuming his hair until nothing was left but an icy sort of cold that made him feel less than human. 

“ _No_ ,” he gasped as he struggled towards awareness, tears trailing down his cheeks. “No, no- _please-_ ”

“Gil-” Hands, he could feel hands, could feel warmth pressing at his shoulder, could distantly register the familiar quilt under his fingertips and the plump comfort of his pillow. “Gil, it’s okay. It’s okay, wake up.”

“It’s so dark,” Gil cried, grasping for Jay until he could curl against his side, still half out of his mind with terror. “The darkness is going to steal me, Jay. It’s going to take me and I don’t want to _go_.”

“You don’t have to.” Jay was rubbing circles on his back. “The darkness isn’t going to take you anywhere, Gil. You’re right here. You’re on the Interceptor with me, and you’re okay.”

“It’s gonna take me,” Gil sobbed, because he knew this, knew this with a certainty he couldn’t fight. The shadows had been stronger than him, he’d just carried Uma’s shell, his love for her- it was the only reason he’d been able to escape. He wasn’t special. Gil didn’t do special. “Please don’t let it take me. _Please_ , Jay.”

“It won’t.” Jay continued to murmur soft reassurances into his ear while Gil fell apart, breath coming in hiccupped breaths until he had no tears left. “It’s alright,” Jay was saying. Now that Gil could process things, his voice sounded tense, like he was barely holding on too. “It’s going to be okay, Gil. You’re not going anywhere. You’re not going anywhere.”

“…Jay?” Gil felt exhausted, the remnants of fear clutching at his mind, leaving him empty and cold. “Did I… was it a bad dream?”

“Yeah,” Jay gasped it out as a kind of relief, hugging Gil closer to him. “It was just a nightmare, Gil.”

“I’m sorry.” He’d woken Jay up, disturbed his rest because Gil couldn’t even sleep right.

“Not your fault,” Jay rushed to assure, murmuring against Gil’s bandana-covered hair. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“ _No_.” Gil shook his head, burying his face against Jay’s chest. He could hear his heartbeat, could _hear_ , which already proved he was out of Cassandra’s clutches.

“You’re shivering,” Jay said, rubbing his arm carefully. “How about a hot bath? I could make you some tea.”

Gil didn’t really want to move, but he also didn’t want to stay in bed anymore, didn’t want to try and sleep again when the darkness was lingering behind his eyelids.

“Okay,” he whispered, letting Jay pull him from the bed. “Okay.”

-:-:-:-:-:-

The first nightmare was a sign of things to come. In the week before Jay’s scheduled _‘hero celebration’_ Gil had at least one nightmare per night, sometimes more when he attempted to go back to sleep after a bath. He had tried sleeping in a different room from Jay so at least one of them could be rested, but the other teen refused, stubbornly following Gil no matter where he hid on the Interceptor. In the end, they had taken to drugging Gil with sleeping draughts that left him feeling numb for half the day, but at least they were sleeping. That counted for something.

The day of the big celebration, the others finally arrived in Corona, and while Gil wasn’t actually glad for the company, he was glad that this entire thing was almost over.

“There he is!” Mal cheered when she slid out of the limo, flashing Jay a brilliant wink. “The hero of the hour!”

“Hey, Mal.” Jay’s grin was genuine, though his eyes were tired, like he’d somehow managed to acquire Gil’s secondhand stress or something.

“What, no bragging?” Mal asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. “It’s not like you to be humble.”

“Maybe I’m finally growing up?” Jay offered. “Hey, Ben.”

“Hey, Jay.” Ben strolled up the stairs of the Corona palace with measured, regal steps, offering them a subdued nod. “I suppose you’ve gotten sick of talking about everything after all the interviews you’ve had.”

“And seriously?” Mal asked, smacking Jay’s arm. “‘ _I don’t know how_ _I did it’_ – what kind of bullshit answer is that?”

“A true one.” Jay shrugged, unapologetic.

“Hey, Gil.” Ben’s smile was warm and nice and everything Ben ever was and made Gil just sort of want to start running towards the harbor and not stop until he’d hit the ocean. “How are you?”

“Awesome,” Gil lied, offering a thumbs up. “Hey, Mal. You look purple as always.”

“Glad of you to notice.” Mal smiled, but there was something to her eyes, a sort of focus Gil didn’t really want. “Are you okay?”

“Tired,” Gil answered, trying to be honest. “I’ve been staying up to watch Jay’s interviews.”

“He’s killing me.” Jay picked up the lie with a groan, making a show of his embarrassment.

“I don’t want to miss anything,” Gil whispered, grinning at the way it made Mal laugh.

Okay, he could do this. This wasn’t so bad.

“Jay!” Carlos and Evie crawled out of the limo next, likely giving Mal and Ben time to do royal things. “How’s your ego, man?” Carlos asked, punching Jay’s arm. “Did your head get too big to fit through doors?”

“Actually, Jay’s been acting suspiciously humble,” Mal noted with narrowed eyes.

“Let’s chalk that up to Gil’s wonderful influence,” Evie decided, because she actually was a hero, unlike Gil. “Had to happen at some point.”

“Well, when you put it like that…”

Doug and Jane spilled out of the limo next, offering _both_ Jay and Gil enthusiastic hugs to congratulate them on their joint success, much to Gil’s sputtered protests. It was actually a relief when Harry and Uma made an appearance, the two of them choosing to focus specifically on Gil, leaving Jay to the others.

“Gilly,” Harry drawled, eyes going speculative. “Ye alright, duckling?”

“I’m fine.” Gil forced his smile to be extra big. “It’s good to see you guys!”

“It’s good to see you too, Gil.” By the look of it, Uma didn’t believe him, and if Uma didn’t believe him, Harry wouldn’t either. “Have you been sleeping?”

“He’s been watching Jay’s interviews,” Mal cut in, seeming content to abandon the other huddle to defend Gil’s honor.

“ _Gil_ ,” Uma chided. “You shouldn’t let that stuff interfere with your sleep.”

“Want to catch a nap before we get ready for the festivities?” Harry asked – nice, well, _nicer_ than he’d been in a while, and Gil sincerely wanted to take him up on it, but-

He’d likely just end up screaming in Harry’s ears too, and they didn’t need that. “Nah, I’m good.” Gil waved them off with a grin. “Queen Rapunzel’s got a lot of stuff lined up for today. Jay’s getting a parade.”

“Are you gonna be there?” Uma asked, squeezing his shoulder carefully. “As a witness?”

“Nope.” Gil shrugged. “I didn’t really see anything. I just got caught outside.” He scuffed the ground with his boot. “It was really boring.”

“Ye were still part of his team,” Harry insisted. “Ye should be with him.”

“I don’t want to,” Gil said, trying not to let too much honesty through. “If I was on his float, I couldn’t see the rest of the parade. There’s supposed to be _fireworks_.”

“Well,” Uma chuckled. “As long as there’s fireworks.”

Harry still didn’t seem pleased with the answer, but it was the best Gil could offer, the blond happily changing the subject to what they had been doing for the past week.

It would be okay. He just had to make it through the evening. That was all.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Gil was a mess by the time they started preparing for the celebration. He tried to distract himself by helping everyone else get ready, even if this meant holding up a dress while Evie steamed it, or rubbing Mal’s feet because she liked that even if she wouldn’t ask for it, or sorting through Ben’s collection of cuff links which was still numerous despite it being his _travel_ case, and Doug was there to help Gil laugh off all the times he fumbled the tiny, delicate things as though Gil was clumsy and not actually trembling with fear. 

He passed Uma’s shell necklace back to her because they were already together, right? Which meant he was safe? And she really shouldn’t waste it on him anyway, and Uma accepted it after some minor goading, not seeming to sense anything amiss, meaning that the stone barricade around the Dark Kingdom had kept her from registering his use of her shell. That helped feed into his claim of getting stuck on the outside, where he was _safe_ , which was really all Gil needed in life.

Evie had new outfits for all of them – Gil’s was a sturdy brown trimmed with gold, and it was like the one time he didn’t want anything flashy that she made him look stupidly dashing and good looking and he hated it, even if he gushed about how nice it was when she handed it over. She deserved the compliments even if he was falling apart inside. 

There was a brief argument that wasn’t really an argument with Uma about whether or not he could wear his bandana (the answer was _‘not’_ ), but she pulled his hair back in a nice low pony that seemed to be universally agreed upon as ‘fancy’ while Gil avoided his reflection in the mirror because that was his life now. 

The good news was that Harry brought along the gloves Gil had requested and those _were_ fancy enough to be worn with his outfit – a nice, sleek brown with hidden pockets, one perfect for concealing the Moonstone. 

Avoiding Jay was easy because everyone was pretty much doting on him – save Harry who seemed content to stick to Gil’s side, which was great but also awful because if anyone would notice if Gil was acting weird, it was Harry. Gil had to resort to pretending he drank a lot of juice or something so he could make a dozen or so bathroom breaks just so he could _breathe_. 

By the time King Ben pulled him aside, Gil was dressed and ready to hurl himself off their fancy balcony, wishing that the night would just _end already_.

“Hey, Gil,” the king greeted, cradling something in his hands. “I’ve got something I think will go well with your outfit.” He opened his palms to reveal two matching cuff-like bracelets resting in his hands – leather by the look of them, embroidered with a simple gold pattern that made them shine. “They’re mine, actually, but I haven’t worn them in a while and they match your outfit so well, I just thought, you know, that you should have them. That way you’ve got two guaranteed accessories anytime you wear this outfit.”

It was such a nice, thoughtful, _kingly_ thing to do and Gil hated it, because he hadn’t even done anything as far as Ben knew.

“Don’t worry about breaking them,” Ben continued, understanding Gil’s propensity to accidental destruction. “They’re easy to replace, and I’ve got dozens more. So.” He prodded them forward. “Do you like them?”

Gil forced a grin. “Yeah, King- _Ben_ , I like them. Thanks.”

The resulting smile was too bright and too pleased to be wasted on someone like Gil, but Ben gave it to him anyway, helping Gil snap the cuffs over his gloves. “I’m glad, Gil. I’m really glad.”

At least that made one of them.

-:-:-:-:-:-

The ball was horrible.

Or, technically the ball was fine, but Gil was horrible, shaky with nerves and incapable of remembering any of the dance steps he and Jay had learned across the kingdoms. Fortunately, everyone was too focused on Jay to pay Gil any mind, which meant he only accidentally stepped on the feet of his friends, Uma rolling her eyes fondly and Harry criticizing him but asking him to dance again anyway. Jane pushed her way in for a dance and so did Doug, oddly enough, which led to all Mal’s crew asking for a turn except for Jay, because Gil had hidden from him when the ex-thief seemed to look for him.

By the time they got to the formal announcement of thanks, Gil was already waiting by one of the side doors. He knew he should be with the others closer to the podium to watch Jay in all his glory, but Gil mostly just wanted to _leave_ , would leave as soon as Jay was given his medal and this mess was done. He could go back to the room and sleep for a million years and then finish planning the trip to Arendelle and everything could go back to mostly being normal, except sometimes Gil’s hair glowed. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Queen Rapunzel called the crowd to order, smiling as brilliant as the sun she represented. “We gather here tonight not only to celebrate the recovery of the Moonstone, the freeing and transformation of the Dark Kingdom, and the defeat of Cassandra, but to _also_ celebrate the hero who brought these wonderful deeds upon Corona.”

The crowd cheered, Mal giving a short whistle as Jay strode onto the podium, offering a sheepish grin to the crowd.

King Eugene took over for his wife. “He used to be known as the son of Jafar, but in Corona we simply know him as Jadir, the Darkness Slayer, whose heroic actions have finally brought peace to my homeland – the Dark Kingdom.” The king turned to face Jay. “I think I speak for all of us when I say we will never be able to truly express how grateful we are for your actions. We only hope that you look upon our kingdoms with the same fondness we share for you.”

“You will always be welcome in Corona,” Queen Rapunzel said, voice carrying over the growing cheers of the crowd.

“And the Dark Kingdom,” the king added. “Once we get some actual people there.”

This prompted some laughter from the audience.

“Now,” the queen began. “Would you like to say a few words in regards to your heroic actions, Jadir?”

“It’d be my pleasure, your majesty.” Jay was so regal and smooth as he accepted the microphone, offering the crowd one of his signature charming smiles that made Carlos _‘woop’_. “I know I’ve said it before, but I have to be honest.” He strolled closer towards the king and queen. “I don’t really know what happened out there. I-” He paused, frowning to himself, and Gil felt his stomach drop. “I don’t know what happened out there,” Jay repeated, his eyes scanning the crowd. “Because I didn’t save the Dark Kingdom.”

There was an immediate commotion, the king and queen’s faces shifting to confusion as Jay pressed on.

“A friend did,” he continued. “A dear friend who asked me to take credit for his actions because he believed he didn’t deserve the glory himself.”

Carefully, Gil began to back away towards the door, taking advantage of the crowd’s confusion, of Jay’s searching gaze to slip into the shadows unnoticed, heart pounding hard in his chest.

“But he does,” Jay continued. “I didn’t save the Dark Kingdom, your majesties, my fellow ambassador Gilbert LeGume did-”

That was the last Gil heard before he ducked out into the hallway, running through the shadows to who knew where, just knowing he couldn’t stay. Jay had promised but he’d lied, he broke his promise and of course he had, he was _Jay_. He was strong and kind and true and Gil was just- nothing. A product of circumstance. He wasn’t a hero.

And now he’d have to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH, y’all wanted a TWIST? ;D
> 
> Thank you guys so much for the feedback and support!!! Time really seems to be flying now a days, but it’s always a nice highlight to my day when I can get away and focus on this fandom. You guys make it a real treat, and for that, I am grateful ^_^ 
> 
> Story notes:
> 
> Zhan Tiri is one of the antagonists of the Tangled animated series.
> 
> Also, my apologies to everyone who enjoys Cassandra as a character. I didn’t know a lot about her at the time of writing this, but she was a convenient antagonist that suited the needs of this story, so she got slotted in the role of being super evil in a sort of 2-dimensional way, even though she is definitely more well-rounded in the actual Tangled series.
> 
> Obviously, this was not the kind of favor Jay had been expecting to fulfill, but a deal’s a deal ;)
> 
> WARNING – At the beginning of scene 4, Gil has a nightmare about being trapped in darkness under the threat of someone wanting to attack him, if you would prefer to skip the nightmare altogether and Gil’s panicked reaction while Jay calms him, skip down to the following dialogue: 
> 
> “It won’t.” Jay continued to murmur soft reassurances into his ear while Gil fell apart, breath coming in hiccupped breaths until he had no tears left. “It’s alright,” Jay was saying. Now that Gil could process things, his voice sounded tense, like he was barely holding on too. “It’s going to be okay, Gil. You’re not going anywhere. You’re not going anywhere.”
> 
> Until next time :)


	7. Time to Step Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MINOR SPOILERS – For the season 1 finale of the Tangled animated series. Like, I twist it around enough not to spoil anything too vital, but the bones are there.

Eventually Gil found himself trapped in some small garden courtyard far off the beaten path. The guard patrols had been increased to the point that escape seemed impossible, and while Gil could yield with grace, part of him was too terrified to move from the shadowy nook he had claimed for himself. His back was to one the stone walls that separated the garden from the rest of the castle, and he was squeezed between a willowy tree and yet another bush. He had his knees pulled against his chest, chin tucked down against them, and as much as he knew he had to leave, Gil couldn’t help but contemplate living the rest of his life here. They probably wouldn’t keep the guard patrols up forever, right? Eventually, they’d have to sleep. The other guests had to leave, and Gil could get lost in the confusion of _that_. 

It was fine. He’d be fine.

“Gil.”

Jay’s voice carried from the entrance of the garden, though there was no way he could know, unless – right, his magic, the tracking charms. 

“Gil.” Jay was nice enough not to cross directly to Gil’s hiding spot, instead settling down next to a low fountain, the water clear enough to show a golden tile mosaic hiding at the base of the pool. “Gil, I’m sorry.”

No, he wasn’t. If he was sorry he wouldn’t have said anything. He would have just left things as they were.

“It didn’t feel right, anymore,” Jay continued. His hands were twisting in the fabric of his pants, and were Evie there she would scold him for it- hell, Harry would too, but Jay seemed too distracted to bear mind to their potential warnings. “You deserve to be a hero.”

A rough noise built in Gil’s throat, a growled sort of croon of refusal he couldn’t stop if he tried. He pressed a hand to his mouth, but Jay was already on the move, crossing towards the shadows to crouch before Gil’s hiding spot. “Gil-”

“No.” Gil shook his head, looking anywhere but Jay’s earnest expression. “No, you promised.”

“I thought I could do it.” At least Jay seemed honest about that much, his hands hovering in front of him like he wanted to touch Gil but couldn’t, knew he wasn’t wanted (even if he always was). “But it wasn’t right. Gil-”

“I don’t want to be a hero.” It came out in a rush, gasped and ugly because Gil’s throat was so tight, heat building behind his eyes in useless frustration. “I don’t want to be an _ambassador_. The only thing I wanted from this trip was to see some penguins and we haven’t even _done_ that yet!”

Instead they’d been solving problems across each kingdom they encountered, recovering lost artifacts and ending curses and everywhere they went their name and infamy grew, and it made Ben and Uma and Mal proud but Gil just felt small because all of it was an accident and none of it was something he deserved, especially this. 

“Tell them you lied.” Gil pressed his forehead against his knees, trying to hide the tears that threatened to spill down his cheeks. “Tell them you were trying to be nice or something. Throw me a bone.”

“I’m not doing that.” Jay’s warm hand settled on his shoulder, and as upset as Gil was it was still a source of comfort, something he wanted to lean into desperately. “This is your story, Gil. You’re the hero Corona deserves.”

“Right.” Gil’s fingers began to tremble from how hard he was clutching his legs. “All hail the hero of Corona, the guy who can barely write.”

He expected another quiet consolation from Jay – because despite his quick-fire anger back on the Isle – this Jay was patience incarnate. Coy and teasing but kind, even when he wouldn’t say as much outright. Gil expected Jay to squeeze in beside him, wrap an arm around his shoulder until Gil was ready to face the music, likely after they had called one of the others (who were probably frantic at their friend’s disappearing act, but at least it had been for a good _reason_ ). 

Gil hadn’t expected the hand to retreat altogether, and only sensed the new people approaching when Jay shifted out of the way.

“Is that why you asked Jadir to take the credit?” It was Queen Rapunzel, the voice Gil had desperately been trying to avoid the moment his hair had started glowing in the Dark Kingdom, when his entire world had shifted upside down. “You don’t think you’re worthy?”

No, it was because the Moonstone greeted him like an old friend, because it buzzed against his wrist in a playful banter and because his hair glowed sometimes and he could heal people, and none of those were things _Gil_ , the unnamed son of Gaston, should have been able to do. And if he wasn’t a son of Gaston, maybe he was a prince or a duke or whatever, and Gil thought being an ambassador had been a terrible choice but those would be worse

“Gilbert,” King Eugene said his full name like it wasn’t a taunt, crouching beside his wife and Gil should look at him, he _should_ , but then maybe they’d know. “Where we come from– what you know – that doesn’t matter. What matters is what you do, and you somehow managed to rebuild the Dark Kingdom – my home – and calm the Moonstone. We won’t ask how you did it if you’re not comfortable with it, but please know that we are forever in your debt.”

“Gil…?” Delicate fingers wrapped around his arm. A queen’s hands, slight but true. “It’s okay, I promise we don’t bite.”

Slowly, Gil looked up, towards the sight he had been avoiding for so long.

Queen Rapunzel and King Eugene were just as startlingly fair as their pictures, just and royal and _good_ , and Gil wanted to flinch away from them, but he had to- he had to press on.

He swallowed, trying to clear away the lump in his throat. “I don’t want a parade,” he said quietly. “Or a statue.”

“How do you feel about paintings?” The king offered.

Gil shuddered. “I’d take a statue over a painting.”

“Good, good,” the king was nodding to himself. “This feels like progress.”

“No big parties,” Queen Rapunzel agreed, and her eyes were tinged with moisture, as though Gil’s pain somehow echoed as her own. “But you will be remembered, Gil. You have to give us that.”

“…okay,” he said eventually, because there was nothing else he could do. Belatedly, he realized he should be smiling, but the tears that managed to leak from the corners of his eyes might give such things away as insincere. “Okay.”

Behind them, Jay watched the proceedings with a tired grin, and Gil still didn’t know how he felt about that- his bones still singing the song of betrayal-trayal-trayal, but Gil was too exhausted to think about it, needed to give too much to his maybe-family members to spare anything for Jay.

That pain would come later. 

But it would come.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“What the hell happened?!”

Gil wasn’t surprised when Mal and Uma immediately swarmed when they returned to the royal guest quarters, but that didn’t make it less overwhelming. On reflex, Gil retreated a step from their forceful presence before realizing it brought him closer to Jay, and ended up flinching away from him in response.

Jay watched the exchange with sad eyes, but Gil didn’t have time to spare for him because Uma was there, Harry half a step behind her, and both of them were too busy wrapping Gil up in their arms to worry about anything else.

“ _Jay_.” Mal was pressing a manicured finger against his chest, her eyes narrowed in displeasure. “What was that?”

“Are you okay?” Uma whispered, thumbing the dry tear tracks on Gil’s cheeks. “Baby?”

“M’fine.” Gil leaned into the touch, muttering the words by rote before he realized he wasn’t fine. He really wasn’t. He ducked his head against Harry’s shoulder to make up for it, taking comfort in his presence. “Are you guys okay?”

“We’re not the ones that put on a little show,” Harry muttered, toying with the end of Gil’s ponytail.

Oh. He needed- the bandana. No formal parties meant he could hide his stupid hair away again.

“Everyone just _calm down_ ,” Ben soothed, urging Mal to give Jay some space. “We can talk about this when everyone’s settled.”

“ _No_ ,” Mal’s voice was like venom, but she only had eyes for Jay. “We don’t keep secrets from each other, and this? This is a pretty big secret. You need to explain yourself, Jay.”

“It’s my fault,” Gil cut in before Jay could reply, pulling away from Harry and Uma so he could face Mal on his own. “I um… asked him to.”

When Mal’s gaze cut towards him, it was tinged with more green than purple, furious in its intensity. “We’ll get to that later,” she decided. “But Jay-” She turned her displeasure back on the other teen. “-should know better.”

“Why don’t we take a few steps back?” Evie offered, breaking her silence with an easy sort of grace. “Just so we’re all on the same page. Gil-” She offered him a small grin. “Was the one who managed to restore the Dark Kingdom and rescue the Moonstone from Cassandra. But because of… his own reasons,” she decided, putting it as nicely as possible. “He asked Jay to take credit for it.”

“Magic boy was happy being in the spotlight until now,” Harry summarized, shifting so that he stood beside Gil, one hand resting on the base of his neck. “What changed?”

“That doesn’t matter,” Carlos’ voice was flat when he cut into the conversation, detached enough that Jane shot him concerned glance from where she stood beside him. “What matters is that Jay kept it a secret from us. Keeping it from the rest of the world is fine, but not us. We share everything, that’s supposed to be one of the rules.” 

Rules for what, Gil wondered, but now really wasn’t the time to ask.

“Maybe he was waiting?” Doug offered – always the logical one, tentative but level-headed.

“For what, the day he _died_?”

“Carlos.” Jane braced a hand against his elbow, and to her credit Carlos didn’t shake it off, even if it looked like he wanted to.

“Gil.” Uma’s voice was calm but relentless, her gaze fixed to him with unwavering focus. “Why did you ask Jay to lie for you?”

The sour feeling that had been growing in his stomach built to one of lead, everything seeming unmovable, unyielding. She was his captain, and he had to answer his captain even if his fingers itched for his bandana, even if he wanted to go hide in their borrowed ship and sail away until he never had to look at people again.

“Harry.” Gil hadn’t expected Jay’s interruption, but the other teen’s gaze was on the first mate, looking more worn than Gil had ever seen him. “That special compartment Gil had you make in his gloves? Pull it back.”

It felt like the floor had dropped out from under him.

“N-No, Harry-” Gil wanted to pull away but Uma had her arms around him and he didn’t want to hurt her, didn’t want to flinch away and break her accidentally. He tried to keep the gloves away from Harry’s prying hands but Jay had charged in, pushed Gil’s wrist until the Moonstone was revealed-

He closed his eyes when he felt his hair reacting, a golden warmth that spread down to his toes and seeped through his eyelids. He could hear their gasps, felt Harry’s confusion through his arms but he didn’t want to see it. 

“…Gil,” Uma said, her voice a quiet sort of wonder, like when Ben had given her a new ship for her birthday or Harry had created her a gown all from scratch.

That wasn’t meant for him- certainly not for his dumb hair and a shining rock. That was supposed to be reserved for special things and not random happenstance, not magic powers that didn’t have any reason being in the son of Gaston.

Eventually, after what seemed like forever, Gil felt Jay tug the material back over the Moonstone, his hair falling a second after, resting back against his shoulders. As soon as it landed, Gil stepped back, fumbling for the bandana he had hidden inside his vest.

It was Mal’s voice who broke the silence.

“Gil,” she said quietly. “How long have you known?”

“I didn’t-” Gil flinched, shoving the bandana on his head with shaky fingers. “I _didn’t_. There- when Jay and I got lost in Apheliotia, something happened but I didn’t know _what_ , and then the-” He shoved the ponytail up under the rest of the material. “I didn’t know. I don’t know.”

“Gil.” Ben was stepping forward now, taking slow, measured steps. “We need to tell the King and Queen.”

“ _No_.” Why couldn’t Jay have listened to him? Why couldn’t he just be a glory hog? Harry would have done it for Gil. Maybe he _should_ have asked the first mate to travel with them, because he thought he could trust Jay but he couldn’t. “Please, _don’t_.”

“Why don’t we talk about this tomorrow?” Jane offered, breaking in tentatively. “When we’re all rested? It’s been a long night.”

A long night, a long week. None of them were probably going to get any sleep and yet here they were anyway, pretending they could reach some level of normalcy when Gil had lied to them. Lied to his _captain_. He’d betrayed them because he’d been scared, but that wasn’t an excuse. He had just- he’d hoped things could go back to normal, that they could pretend that everything was fine and Jay could get the glory he deserved and Gil could fade into the background like he was supposed to, but now he was a hero and soon he might be more and he wanted none of it. 

He missed his Uncle LeFou. He missed slow days at the Chip Shoppe where all he had to do was move tables. He missed fireworks. They had seemed so scary before, but now he missed them, because even if they were loud, he knew what he was supposed to do when faced with them.

“Okay,” Ben decided, because he was the one that took over when both groups of VKs were compromised, acting as the neutral voice of reason, even if Mal had literally bewitched him once upon a time. Then again, so had Uma, so he probably _was_ neutral. “Everyone just… try to get some sleep.”

It was permission they hadn’t realized they’d been waiting for, and almost immediately everyone split into their own groups. Jay reached for Mal but she ignored him, brushing past him and Ben, her delicate train dragging behind her in a furious shift. Ben spared Jay an apologetic look before following after her, Evie half a step behind him, likely trying to talk the future Queen into a state of calm. 

Carlos had already shrunk in on himself, withdrawing into the shadows towards what was technically Evie’s room where he would either clean or start tinkering on his next invention, sleep elusive for now. Jane seemed torn, looking between his retreating back and Jay, but Doug nudged her onward, already crossing towards the wayward son of Jafar. He pulled him towards Jane’s assigned room, Jay following helplessly, almost seeming like a boat adrift at sea, its sails torn and ruined.

For whatever reason, Uma and Harry hadn’t left Gil’s side, though whether that was out of obligation or actual choice, Gil did not know.

“Gilly…” Gil couldn’t read Harry’s expression, but it seemed more soft than angry, the grip on his elbow apologetic. “C’mon, let’s go.”

“Okay.” Gil would take their generosity while he had it because at heart, he wasn’t brave (and who would want that? A coward for a hero). He allowed Harry to tug him towards Uma’s room, their captain following behind them with silent footsteps. 

She hadn’t started yelling yet – normally she would have done that by now, would have explained all the things Gil had done wrong so he could avoid them in the future, though he was pretty sure there couldn’t be a repeat performance of this. It unnerved him that she was still quiet even as Harry pulled him into the large bed, but maybe she was taking Ben’s order to heart. There would be yelling later. In the morning. 

For now, there was Harry’s open arms and Uma’s solid presence against his back, the two of them cradling him with such care that Gil wanted to cry again had he the tears. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to sleep, but then Uma began humming an old sea shanty – something they’d chant back on the Lost Revenge, and between that comforting familiarity and his own exhaustion, Gil stumbled into an uneasy sleep. 

-:-:-:-:-:-

He slipped out of bed in the early hours of the morning when he could no longer stay still, somehow managing to escape Harry and Uma’s hold despite their firm grips. He couldn’t run but his legs needed to move anyway, to find one last bout of freedom before it got stripped away with this horrible uncertainty. Gil let his feet guide him to another set of gardens off the beaten path, moving to find a tree that would allow him to see over the walls. He wanted to watch the sun rise over the Interceptor bobbing in the harbor, wanted to feel something close to normal before everything broke down into arguments and negotiations.

Unfortunately, Gil never made it to the tree.

Halfway across the garden the world around him exploded in a ray of bright light, a thing so fierce it blocked out the sight of trees and grass and stone until Gil was left in a sort of void, bobbing for all of a second before _flying_ , tumbling – movement without his body shifting a muscle and it was terrifying, like the world had dropped out from under him, and then-

And then he landed, not in the gardens but in some kind of workshop? A wooden house with a sort of laboratory setup. Familiar black spikes seemed to be driving up from the floor, and there was a large sort of rock fixture in the middle of the room. No, it was- Gil didn’t know what it was, but it was yellow, and there seemed to be a man trapped inside?

“ _There!_ ” Belatedly, Gil registered a small teenager decked out in inventor’s gear, too-large goggles balancing on a messy flop of hair. “I did it!”

“Did what?” Gil asked, then looked down at the ground around him, noticing for the first time that he was in the center of a large detailed diagram. “Did you teleport me?”

“I did better than that!” the teen- not cheered, but boasted? He seemed mad. “Since I can’t get Rapunzel’s help, I summoned the future of her line to help me!”

Oh, that was- that was not good. That was- why hadn’t he teleported Ruby? Ruby would make more sense, she was actually Queen Rapunzel’s kid.

Unless, did that mean-?

“Varian-” Off near the far wall seemed to be Queen um- what was her name? The one before Rapunzel. Except she looked way younger – not a gray hair in sight, and she was shackled to the floor for some reason. “You can still undo this. Some things shouldn’t be messed with.”

“Well, I mean, it’s already done,” Gil offered, trying to be practical. He wasn’t feeling all that great about some random teenager alluding to the thing he had been steadily ignoring, but you couldn’t win them all. “Does he need help?” Gil pointed to the man trapped in the yellow stuff.

Varian – the teen, Gil guessed – sort of blinked at him, then recovered. “Yes, _obviously_. I need your hair to-” He frowned. “Where’s the rest of your hair?”

“That is a long story I don’t have the answer to,” Gil replied honestly. “But um, I think I have something else that could work.”

In truth, Gil didn’t really know what he was doing, but if he was here anyway, he could- he wasn’t sure, but doing something useful seemed appropriate. Maybe he could get them to promise to forget about him if he did this.

Yeah, that sounded good.

“Do you have a ladder?” Gil asked, shifting his weight nervously.

Varian didn’t respond.

“…So I could reach his face?” Gil continued. The guy was high up. “I should probably get his head out first.”

“Um…” Varian didn’t seem to know what to do. “Yeah, over here.”

They worked together to position the ladder, Gil climbing up it with confident movements until he reached the dude’s face. He wasn’t sure how he knew the guy was still alive, but there was a faint sort of pulsing through the crystal. Like he was being preserved, Gil guessed. He didn’t know. 

He reached up to remove his bandana. “Okay so like, my hair’s going to start glowing, so don’t freak out about that.”

“Rapunzel’s hair glows,” Varian said, like this explained everything. On the far side of the room, Queen whatever was still silent. Gil should probably learn her name since she was related to him, he guessed.

“Alright,” Gil said. “And um- I only just figured out how to do this a couple days ago, so I’m still working the kinks out, but I’m pretty sure I can get him free just- oh, don’t tell anyone about this. Yeah.” That covered all their bases. “I’m just gonna-”

He pulled back the pocket that hid the Moonstone, feeling his hair stir to life in gentle curls. He ignored the gasp he heard from the young queen and pressed his hand against the yellow crystal, focusing his attention on melting it away. He had done that back in the Dark Kingdom, had undone the spikes and changed them into those beautiful buildings they had always wanted to be. This crystal had been some kind of chemical reaction, indestructible but not intentional, which allowed Gil to sort of peel it away from the guy within.

By the time the man’s head and shoulders were free, Gil had worked up a fine sweat, but kept going.

“You’re doing it.” Varian watched from the base of the ladder, expression mixed with disbelief and hope. “I thought I’d have to- my drill.”

“I’m sure you had a good plan,” Gil gasped between breaths. “But um- sometimes you have to adapt.”

“But you’re-” Varian frowned. “Why are you helping me?”

“Technically, I’m helping him,” Gil said. “And I’m helping him because he’s, you know- trapped. And being trapped sucks.”

“I was- I had planned on threatening your grandmother to get you to help.”

“That’s a um… bit of an extreme response,” Gil replied, really not liking that ‘g’ word. “Maybe just try asking first next time.”

“Yeah,” Varian said quietly. “I guess I could have done that.”

“I mean, to be fair, your very complicated plan is what got me here in the first place, and um- got this guy halfway out.” Gil was at his waist now, and it got easier the longer it went on, even though he was beginning to feel tired. “So like, I dunno, maybe try a little of column A and a little of column B. That might work going forward.”

“…you are very much your mother’s son,” Varian said, finally.

If the ‘g’ word had been bad, that was- that was so much worse.

But definitely not something Gil was going to think about.

So Gil shrugged, keeping his eyes on the trapped guy’s knees. “Agree to disagree.” Wait. “So um- this wasn’t just teleportation, was it?”

“What?” He could feel Varian blink. “Oh. No, it’s time travel. I um-” He seemed bashful now, for whatever reason. “I summoned you from the future.”

“Huh.” That was one way to solve a problem. “Okay, he’s good to go.”

The table and other furniture that had been trapped in the crystal fell back into place, and between Varian and Gil they managed to catch the trapped-unconscious man and rest him on the ground.

Okay, so um- looked like he needed some healing magic then. Which was fine, only-

“So um…” Gil frowned. “I’ve never healed anyone on purpose.”

“What?”

“Like,” Gil flushed. “It was an accident. Heat of the moment? I don’t know how to do it intentionally.” 

He guessed that was what he did in Apheliotia and Inca. Like, in hindsight it made sense. 

Shyly, he turned his gaze towards the old/young queen. “Do you know?”

The queen blinked. She had been mostly silent up to this point, though Gil supposed that wasn’t a bad idea when you were taken hostage. “Rapunzel had a song, something that woman used to sing to her.”

“Oh.” That was right, he remembered Mother Gothel ranting about that once. “Do you know it or um- should I sing my own?”

The queen seemed confused. “Maybe try your own.”

“Alright.” Gil nodded. At this point, he knew plenty of songs – sea shanties and dwarven chants and jungle cries – but she said it should be _his_ , and Gil had only been given one song before, and it wasn’t really his, but one he had stolen. He thought back to that tune Uma had sung to Harry, the one that had gotten Gil through the last two accidental healings, the one he’d caught through the crack in the door, Uma knowing he was on guard but not caring if he heard.

Gil cleared his throat, grabbing the unconscious guy’s hand and raising it to his hair, and started to hum.

He felt his hair shine with a familiar warmth, felt it pulse through the man’s arm until it lit his body, until that healing energy emanated through him like it had that one time with Jay. Gil dropped his arm when the man’s eyes began to blink open, swiftly covering the Moonstone back up again and letting his hair fall back to his shoulders.

“…dad?” Varian said, his eyes shining with unrestrained tears. “ _Dad!_ ”

He launched himself forward as the man – his father – sat up, holding him close and sobbing, muttering nonsense that Gil knew he shouldn’t listen to. Without being asked, he stepped away, deciding to give them some space by reaching out to the old queen. 

“Hey,” he offered when he made it to her side. “Let me just-” He used the Moonstone to summon one of those spikes to break the chain around her ankle, then let it sink back into the earth. “Are you okay?”

She stared at him like a thing of wonder. Gil hated it a lot. “Yes, I’m alright.”

“So um…” He looked back to where Varian was hugging his dad. “So I know that kidnapping is bad, and messing with time is also like, _bad_ , but the guy was just trying to get his dad back, so like-” Gil frowned. He didn’t want Varian to end up on the Isle of the Lost, not when his only crime had been love. “Could you protect him? Maybe have him work off his punishment instead of imprisoning him?” Gil settled on. “He seems really smart, he’d be way more use to you in a lab, and.” He frowned. “He’s young. He might be a smart young guy, but he’s still _young_ , and young people do dumb things when they’re scared.” Like kidnap queens and run away and summon people through time. “So could you be lenient, I guess?”

The queen considered this. “What’s your name?”

“What?” That was not the response Gil had been expecting.

“Your name?” she pressed.

Gil shrugged. He didn’t want to tell her his real name, because it wasn’t _really_ a name, it was just what his Uncle LeFou had given him because his dad couldn’t be bothered.

But she didn’t ask for his real name, just _a_ name, and Gil had at least a fake one of those given to him by a king once upon a time. “Flynn.”

She laughed. “That figures.”

He didn’t know why though. 

“Those books,” she murmured, mostly to herself, wiping a tear from her eye. Eventually, she recomposed herself. “Alright, Flynn. I’ll ask my husband to be lenient with Varian’s punishment.”

“Maybe make some kind of parole?” Gil offered, parroting the word from Doug. “You could have his dad enforce it. Or you. But-” He shrugged. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” she said, and she was grinning so fondly Gil thought he might shake apart, because he didn’t really deserve it.

“Um, if you’ll just um- excuse me.” He motioned back towards Varian before escaping like the coward he was. “Hey,” he said when he got closer to their huddle. “Not to interrupt, but can you send me home?”

Varian blinked at him, dried tear tracks on his face. “I um… may not have planned that far ahead.”

“ _Varian_.” Gil would not panic because it wouldn’t help him, but also he couldn’t spend the rest of his life in the past. “I have people to get back to.”

Granted, they weren’t happy people, but they were still his.

“I know, I _know-_ ” Varian huffed.

“What’s he talking about?” Varian’s father asked. Eventually, his gaze settled on the diagram that had summoned Gil. “Varian, you didn’t.”

“He did,” Gil said lightly. “But it worked out, so.”

“Messing with very fabric of reality is no small matter-”

“But it _already_ happened,” Gil interrupted so they could get back on track. “So like, if we could just undo it, I would appreciate it.”

Varian was already thinking. “I’ll need to redo the math. Do you-” He started inspecting Gil. “Do you have anything on you from a person from your time period? Something you don’t mind losing? We could use it as an anchor.”

Gil considered the array of accessories still on him from the ball the night before. “Yeah, I’ve got something that will work.”

“Then I can fix this,” Varian declared.

Gil mostly hoped he was right.

-:-:-:-:-:-

In the time that Varian frantically redid his math, Gil learned that the Queen’s name was Arianna and that the man he had saved was Quirin – who had recognized the Moonstone in the brief moment it had been revealed and looked at Gil like he was an unfathomable thing, which seemed to be the running theme of this encounter. Apparently Quirin was a loyal subject of the Dark Kingdom under King Edmund, who was apparently King Eugene’s father.

“Look,” Gil said when the silence got too much. “I can’t really tell you guys anything, I don’t think.” He had probably already messed up time by freeing Quirin and protecting Varian from the Isle.

“You wield the Moonstone,” Quirin pressed, looking very stoic and determined and all the things a good general was.

At this time, Queen Rapunzel and her friends hadn’t actually traveled to the Dark Kingdom yet, which Gil felt sort of terrible about because he probably _should_ warn them about Cassandra but also he felt like it might break reality if he did.

So he didn’t, but he felt really bad about it.

“Sort of,” Gil allowed. It was more like he had wandered nearby and the Moonstone had demanded to be used, which wasn’t that impressive. “But other things need to happen before I get it, so if you could just pretend not to know about this, that’d be… good.” 

“And you undo the spikes?” Quirin pressed, not really getting the _Gil can’t talk about it_ thing. 

“Yeah.”

“How old are you?” Queen Arianna asked.

“ _Guys_ ,” Gil said to get around the question, because he didn’t actually know the answer to it. “Just know that it’s going to be awhile before we see each other again.” This was literally the first time he’d seen Varian and Quirin, and Queen Arianna had only looked at him from a distance before turning away. “We can talk about this when I get back.” Or they wouldn’t. Gil didn’t even know if Varian escaped the Isle. “It’s fine.”

“ _‘It’s fine’_ , he says,” Varian muttered, hashing out random calculations while clutching one of the bracelets Ben had given Gil. “Like we’re not going to have to wait eighteen years or whatever while you wait like, five seconds.”

“This is what you get for messing with time travel, man.” Gil shrugged, unapologetic. “I don’t know what you want from me.”

“You’re such your dad’s _kid_ ,” Varian snarled, but he seemed to use his frustration to further hash out his work, so Gil didn’t take it personally. 

He should probably object to all the prince stuff they inadvertently kept shoving his way, but Gil decided that would be a future problem. They could all laugh about it maybe if they ever saw him again.

And hopefully they wouldn’t, because Gil was going to try very hard to avoid them.

It was all good.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“Okay,” Varian said when Gil was set up on the new diagram. “ _This_ is a copy of my notes.” He handed Gil a journal that had hastily scribbled research inside. “When you give them to future me, I’ll know we’ve had this conversation and we can get some answers.”

“By then you’ll probably already have the answers,” Gil reminded him, but took the journal anyway, tucking it into his jacket.

“Now,” Varian continued, blithely ignoring him. “The remnants of this bracelet should teleport you to whoever gave it to you in your time period.” Meaning Ben. “Give or take a few feet. Didn’t want you to land right on top of them.”

“Thoughtful,” Gil said, earning a grin from Queen Arianna.

“That’s everything,” Varian declared. “I’m going to initialize the reaction and then you should go back the same way you came, okay?”

“Okay.” Gil nodded, switching his gaze to the Queen. “And you promise to take care of Varian?”

“I promise,” the queen said, her gaze solemn. Gil had already gotten her to write it down on paper, to sign and date it. And while Gil couldn’t take a copy of it with him, he made sure Quirin got one, because at the very least he would want what was best for his son.

Varian pouted. “I don’t need you to take care of me. I can deal with the consequences of my actions.”

No he couldn’t if that led him to the Isle, but Gil didn’t say that. “Yeah, but we agreed that no one really got hurt by this. Like, the forbidden magic wasn’t really great, but everything else worked out for the best.” 

Varian rolled his eyes, but still seemed fond. “Can’t wait until I actually meet you.”

“It’ll be a bit longer than you’d expect,” Gil replied.

With that, there was nothing left to be said, so Varian initiated the teleportation. Just like before, the world around Gil was consumed in a relentless light, and then he was gone again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I’ll be real, it only gets crazier from here, lol.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who’s stuck around so far!! Your feedback and support are a gift that is greatly appreciated, if you cannot tell by my excessive use of exclamation marks!!!! ;D This is the last update before things get truly real-world crazy, so happy holidays, everyone! I hope your late December is a good one :)
> 
> Story notes:
> 
> For those of you unfamiliar with the Tangled animated series, I did a sort of crossover/twist of canon from the show. Quirin does get stuck in amber in the show and Varian comes up with a detailed plan to free him that involves tricking Rapunzel into helping him. In this particular universe, Varian also resorted to magic to solve his problems (he’s strictly an alchemist/inventor in the show), which ultimately mitigates the need for the happenings of the final episode of season one of Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventures. 
> 
> …I don’t know if I explained that well at all, but the short of it is – that wasn’t all a hundred percent my plot. The time travel bit – yes, entirely my plot. Gil saving the day with the Moonstone, that one’s mine, but the rest was canon from the show :)
> 
> PS – Varian isn’t entirely in character for this because at the time of writing I had only seen a few clips of the show where he was mad, which made me think he was a lot more sarcastic and snarky than he actually is. In the show, he’s like, the happiest fluffball that ever did fluff, unless you cross him. 
> 
> Until next time :)


	8. Lose My Doubts

When they had chosen Ben’s bracelet as an anchor, Gil had expected to land in his guest room at the Corona Palace or, at worst, maybe on a random garden path if the king was feeling particularly stressed.

What he had not expected was to show up in some random bedroom that was of equal fanciness – high ceilings and large windows and a solid wall of shelves overflowing with books, everything marble and perfect but wrong. Or at least, unknown. 

This did not look like Corona. It didn’t really look like any of the castles Gil had visited, and he’d been to a lot. Confused, he glanced out the window only to pause, because out on the water was the unmistakable dome that had played such a huge role in his childhood, a murky thing standing out like an ugly eyesore among the Auridion sea. That was the Isle of the Lost – but the barrier had gone back up. 

Had Gil missed something? How long had he been gone?

“…excuse me?”

Gil startled at the intrusion, only to relax a second later because that was Ben. 

Ben, standing in this strange bedroom, looking at Gil in a picture of confusion he had never seen on the king before. Belatedly, Gil realized Jane was huddled behind the king, though her hair was different? It was shorter, and her curls were gone. Gil kinda liked the huge bow though. That was cool. 

“Hello?” Ben prompted again. He looked young, but… wary? His arm was held out in front of Jane protectively, like he was afraid Gil was going to attack him. “Who are you?”

“What?” Gil didn’t have time to panic even though his brain really wanted him to, because none of this was adding up. Why wouldn’t Ben know who he was? Why would Jane’s hair be different? Why would the barrier- “Oh.”

Before he could lose his train of thought, Gil strode past Ben, aiming for the large desk he’d seen nestled in the corner. He found what he was looking for quickly, and felt his stomach sink when the numbers added up.

“Hey um- is this up to date?” Gil asked, holding up the calendar.

Ben continued to stare at him as though he had grown a second head. “…yes?”

“Ah, _peanuts_ ,” Gil muttered, trying to do the math in his head and failing. With a sigh, he reached for one of Ben’s pens and started scratching it out on a spare piece of paper. Where was Doug when you needed him? “I didn’t go far enough.”

“Far enough from where?” Ben asked. “And who are you?”

Before Gil could think about answering his question, the door to the room flew open, Fairy Godmother entering the space with a few quick strides, King Adam and Queen Belle hot on her heels. “Are you alright, children? I felt a magical surge-” She cut off when she saw Gil. 

He offered her a shy wave. “Yeah, that was um- my bad. The surge, I mean.” He could see King Adam motioning for guards behind him and decided to get on with the story, because at this point, he was at a loss. “I was teleported into the past by a bad guy- I mean, a villain-” That was the word they used. “‘Cuz he wanted my help? Long story short, I helped him-”

“You _helped_ him?” King Adam interrupted. He did not seem pleased by this information.

“Well, technically I helped his dad, because he was… hurt.” That was probably the best way to put it. “And I managed to heal him- well, the um- villain thought someone from my family could help but he couldn’t get someone from _his_ time period so he summoned me and- long story short-” Again. “He got his punishment and they were supposed to send me back to my time period but it looks like they were um…” He glanced at his chicken scratch math. “Sixteen months short. Which, if you think about it, isn’t that bad.” he offered to Fairy Godmother.

“You traveled through time,” Fairy Godmother repeated, her tone sort of detached. 

Maybe she was still thinking about it?

“Not on purpose,” Gil said. “The first time, I mean. The second time I was trying to get home. Here-” He reached into his pocket with one hand, keeping the other up for the guards to see. “I’ve got their notes on how they did it. I was supposed to give them to you when I got home anyway.”

He figured Varian wouldn’t mind the white lie, something small that would hopefully build some trust between them.

Tentatively, Fairy Godmother retrieved the small notebook from his hands, thumbing through it carefully. With each page, her eyes seemed to widen.

“Well?” King Adam pressed. “Is he telling the truth?”

“Bibbidi Bobbidi, you’d-better-believe-it,” she said, almost dazed, and it was nice to know that even lost in time; some things were still a constant.

“Sorry about this,” Gil offered. “I really didn’t mean to break into your bedroom. That was my bad.”

Or Varian’s bad for getting the math wrong, but it wasn’t like Gil was one to talk. At least Varian had gotten this close.

“So… you’re from the future,” Ben said, breaking into the conversation for the first time since his parents had arrived.

It was weird to see him so young. Like he had weathered less than before and seemed less certain with everything he did. “Yeah, but I can’t tell you anything about it. Can’t mess up the timeline, you know.”

“You can’t say anything?” Jane asked, seeming to shrink in on herself when she realized she had spoken the words aloud.

Gil offered her a small grin. “It’s better to be safe than sorry. And like- I get that this is all weird. And you don’t owe me anything, but if you guys could help me get back to my actual time, I’d appreciate it, because I really have no idea how any of this stuff works.”

“Magic is forbidden in Auradon,” King Adam said, as though he’d found a way to reassert his authority into this awkward situation.

Gil got it – honestly, the guy was just trying to protect his kingdom. He knew King Adam got a lot of shit because the Isle was better in theory than in execution, but he _had_ been trying to do what was best for his people. Same with the magic ban.

Gil had actually sort of forgotten about that being a thing since Mal had taken care of it with the fall of the barrier, so he’d never lived in a version of Auradon where Jay or Evie or Uma had to hide their penchant for magic.

Guess he’d have to readjust to that, and this old (or young?) version of Ben’s parents.

Gil sighed. “Yeah, I know. Sorry. Just- I don’t know if it’s safe for me to stay here.”

Granted, he probably could wait sixteen months to get back to Corona, Gil just really didn’t want to. Not with everything he knew.

Before King Adam could reply, the queen rested a hand on his shoulder, her gaze fixed to Gil. “I think in this one instance we can make an exception,” she advised. “State it as a pressing emergency and keep it on a need-to-know basis. We don’t know if his presence here will disrupt the timeline, but it’s best not to risk it.”

King Adam tensed. “Belle-”

“He already made the jump once,” the queen soothed. “He can do it again. We will help him.”

The king sighed. “Fairy Godmother?”

“I’ll get to work on it.” She was still staring at the notebook, hadn’t looked away from it since she’d opened it. “Try to calculate a proper solution before the fall semester starts.”

“Until then, you will stay here,” the king ordered, his heavy gaze fixed on Gil. “Where you will have constant supervision. Step out of line once-”

“I um… know what you do to people who step out of line,” Gil murmured, painfully aware of the Isle barricaded in the far distance. “I really don’t want any trouble.”

“Then we have an understanding,” the king decided, sounding as ominous as any villain.

And that, apparently, was that.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“Do I know you?” Ben had decided to stick to Gil’s side while he was being escorted to his ‘guest quarters’, which he was pretty sure was the queen’s old bedroom when she had been put on house arrest. Which was the nice way of saying ‘being held hostage’, but history was written by the victors as Mal liked to say, so – house arrest. 

Jane, for lack of anything better to do, fluttered behind them, her hands twisting together in a nervous way that was directly contrary to the stubborn and sure young fairy he had gotten to know.

Gil shrugged. “I mean, you will. But we haven’t met yet.”

“But you know Jane,” Ben pressed. At this declaration, Jane let out a small squeak that she immediately stifled with both hands, her cheeks flaring in a pretty blush. “You didn’t seem confused with who she was.”

“That’s ‘cuz I’m not.”

“Then why haven’t we met you yet?” Ben seemed stuck on this point, his brows furrowed in that certain way that indicated he was fixated on a particular puzzle. “Anyone would know who I was through media coverage, but Fairy Godmother is protective of Jane. You must have met her at Auradon Prep, but we know everyone who goes there. Did you transfer in?”

Technically, Gil had met her in the forest outside this very castle chasing down a beastified version of Ben, but the prince’s suggestion was a better one. “Seriously, dude. I can’t talk about it.” Gil didn’t know how much he could change on accident. He still remembered the reluctance on Varian’s face when Gil had finally left Old Corona. “I’m really sorry about breaking into your bedroom-”

“About that,” Jane interrupted, her curiosity seeming to outweigh her shyness. “Why did you teleport into Ben’s room?”

“To be fair, he was supposed to be in Corona,” Gil sighed. “We used a bracelet Ben had given me as an anchor point.” Because Gil had two of them and hadn’t felt comfortable losing anything else through magical mishap.

“So we’re friends?” Gil didn’t know why Ben was so determined to get to the bottom of this. “If I gave you a bracelet.”

It was more like Gil was a pity tagalong to the people Ben actually wanted to be friends with, but the king- prince, now? He seemed so earnest that Gil didn’t want to break his heart. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t figure it out for himself soon enough.

So Gil mustered a smile. “Yeah Ben, we’re friends.” And then, because he didn’t want Jane to be excluded. “And we’re friends too, Jane.”

Though he honestly wasn’t sure why.

For whatever reason, this made the blush on Jane’s cheeks darken. “…we are?”

“Yes?” Gil didn’t know why this would be suspect, unless Jane was questioning her future taste. “I promise I’m not that awful.”

“It’s not that,” Jane said, but what was it?

Before Gil could ask, Ben cut back in, “What’s your name, anyway? Or is that on a need-to-know basis too?”

Probably. Yes.

Gil swallowed. “Call me Flynn,” he said quietly. It had worked once before and now it was a- what did Carlos call them? A self-fulfilling prophecy.

Because it was Ben, wasn’t it, that had called Gil that back on the Isle, his brows scrunched together in confusion.

At the time, Gil had smiled through the bitter sting of not being what someone wanted yet again.

That was-

_Wow_ , that was a lot to swallow.

“Flynn,” Jane said, almost – reverently? The same way she said Mal’s name when she was awed by her magic and strength. 

It was weird, having it aimed at him.

“It’s nice to meet you, Flynn,” Ben greeted, his smile wide and hand warm. “And hey, if we’re friends, there’s no need for you to stay in a guest room.”

Gil felt the confusion of his guard detail as they came to a stop around him. “What?”

“We’re friends,” Ben repeated. “You can stay with me. I’ll chaperone you.”

“Except I could be lying,” Gil pointed out, because someone needed to. “A lot. A lot of lying. You literally didn’t know me before ten minutes ago. Don’t-” He scrunched his nose. “Look, I’ll just go to the guest room. That’ll be better for all of us.”

-:-:-:-:-:-

Somehow, Gil ended up in Ben’s room.

At this point, he wasn’t even sure how it happened, only that Jane was there too and seemed equally confused, and the guard left in the hallway had given his very best ‘ _I’m watching you_ ’ scowl before the door had closed in front of him. 

“What just happened?” Gil asked from his spot by Ben’s fireplace, staring down at a large cup of hot chocolate that he, for the life of him, couldn’t remember getting.

Beside him, Jane shrugged. “Ben,” she said, as though it explained everything. “Though I know how you feel. Tonight was supposed to just be dinner with some old family friends and then Ben was going to loan me one of his books and-” She made a sort of _poof_ motion with her hand. “Now we’re having a sleepover, I guess? Mom’s in the zone right now, I don’t think we’re leaving.”

“Well, the more the merrier,” Ben declared, setting down another tray of goodies. “I haven’t had a sleepover in… well, I don’t think I’ve had a sleepover before, so this will be fun!”

“More fun than a random guy teleporting into your room?” Gil asked, taking a careful sip of his cocoa. _Curses_ , it was delicious. Mrs. Potts really knew what was up. Part of Gil had hoped that Carlos had been exaggerating. “On second thought, that sounds more scary than fun.”

“It’s not a random guy if it’s a friend,” Ben cheered.

“But I could be lying?” Gil didn’t know why he was the one who had to stress this point.

“I gave you a bracelet.”

“I could have stolen the bracelet.”

“Then why did you want to teleport to me?”

“Maybe I didn’t have something from anyone else.”

“Did you?”

Uma’s bullhead necklace and Harry ring and Evie’s shirt and everything else seemed to buzz relentlessly against Gil’s skin. He was pretty sure Carlos had given him his bandana too.

“…I could be lying.”

“But you’re _not_ ,” Ben declared, and man, Gil had never seen his smug face before – he didn’t think Jane had either, because she seemed just as amazed by it as Gil was. “Why do you keep trying to deny it?”

“Because I don’t want you to get hurt.” And it could happen so easily, Gil hated it. Hated the idea of leaving casual destruction in his wake, even if that was what he kind of did.

“ _Because-_ ” Ben leveled a dramatic finger at him. “You are my friend.”

“ _Ugh_ ,” Gil sighed, grumbling into his delicious hot chocolate. “You’re impossible.”

“An impossible friend,” Jane piped up, immediately basking in the glow of Ben’s smile.

It was going to be a long night.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Realistically, it would be better for Gil not to hang out with them. He knew that. He’d just experienced several very intense revelations and was now just kind of stuck in an awkward waiting period where he had plenty of time to process, he guessed, and it would probably be better if he didn’t waste Ben or Jane’s time.

_But_.

Ben seemed determined, and Gil didn’t want to rock the boat and make even more of a fuss than he already had, so he decided to just sort of treat it all like some kind of weird vacation. It wasn’t like he hung out with Jane or Ben all that much in the future anyway. Just- they’d chill, and Gil would be on his best behavior, pretend the trip to Corona had never happened so he could just enjoy the moment and the company he had instead of feeling bad all the time.

Yeah, he just needed to regain some of his old-Gil charm or whatever. There was no need to overthink things.

“Okay.” Ben was equipped with an armful of blankets, wandering around the room as he stared at various spots on the floor. “Let me just…” 

Gil and Jane watched him from the couch, both of them clad in pajamas that had appeared sometime after dessert – Jane’s a long nightgown with matching robe and Gil straining against someone’s hand-me-downs. They were the signature blue and yellow of Auradon though, so Gil kind of loved them a lot, even if they were a little tighter than he was used to.

“What are you doing?” Gil asked, because he was pretty sure Jane was too polite to do so herself, even though she was equally confused.

“I’m trying to figure out where we should sleep,” Ben replied, as though that made any sense.

“Um…” Gil shared a look with Jane. “The bed?”

Ben paused, and from the corner of his eye, Gil caught Jane’s face light up in a brilliant flush. “We can’t- we shouldn’t um- share the bed.”

“What?” Was this a manners thing? Gil hated manners things when they didn’t make any sense. “Look how big it is. We could totally share it. I mean-” Wait. “Unless you don’t want to, because it’s your bed.” That was a manners thing Gil could understand. “We could just sleep on the couch while you take it.”

“I’m not going to sleep in the bed while you guys…” Ben motioned vaguely, explaining nothing.

“Dude,” Gil sighed. “It’s your room. I promise, it’s fine.”

“I thought maybe we could make a blanket fort?” Ben continued. He seemed to be blushing as well, because manners or whatever.

“Your bed has curtains,” Gil pointed out. He knew there was another word for it but seriously, the giant bed had giant curtains like it was its own little house. “That’s like a fort, right?” He turned to Jane, who had been silent to this point. “What do you think?”

“Um…” It came out as a squeak, and then Jane buried her face in her hands, which also didn’t help.

Gil patted her back in a way he hoped was comforting. This early-Jane was kind of weird. Still good, ‘cuz she was Jane, but weird.

“How ‘bout this?” Gil tried. “We each grab a blanket and sleep _on top_ of the covers-” That looked really squishy and cool but whatever, Gil understood if Ben didn’t want to share his sacred sleeping sheets with two people he didn’t seem to know very well. Or at all. “-shut a few of the curtains and _bam_ , instant fort. That’s a compromise, right?”

Usually, Uma or Doug would be there to confirm that it was, in fact, a compromise, but right now he had a catatonic Jane and slowly-becoming catatonic Ben to work with, so Gil was going to have to hope for the best.

Ben shrugged, still not quite looking at either of them. “That could work. Are you comfortable with that, Jane?”

The young fairy squeaked. “…yes? Yes,” she decided, looking up from her hands.

“Cool, problem solved!” Gil cheered, jumping up from the couch. He crossed to Ben, taking half of the blanket pile off his hands because he could be a polite guest sometimes. “It’s your bed, where do you want to sleep?”

Ben stared at him like he was an unfathomable being.

Gil sighed. “In the middle? On the edge?”

“Oh.” His cheeks flushed darker. “The edge, please.”

“In case you need to pee.” Gil nodded sagely. “Good call. Jane?”

“Um… the other side?” she offered over Ben’s sudden sputters. He was so weird.

“Cool.” Gil saluted her, dumping his pile on the bed. “That leaves me with the middle.”

Which Gil preferred, honestly. It allowed him to pretend Harry and Uma were there, wanting to be near him, urging him into their bed.

Gil looked up from sorting his blankets. There was a giant fuzzy one that he wanted to try cocooning himself in, it looked so soft. “Can one of you get the lights?”

“I’ll do it!” Jane said, leaping at the chance to be helpful. 

Gil could relate, sometimes he just wanted to do something, and having that thing be helpful was an added bonus.

“Any blanket preferences?” Gil asked Ben, motioning towards his pile as the prince finally abandoned his own at the foot of the bed.

“No, I uh… think all blankets are equal,” Ben said with all the naivety of someone who hadn’t gone camping. It was a bold-faced lie, but Gil let him have it.

“Okay.” Gil shrugged, then moved to undo the fasteners on the curtain.

Ben stopped him. “Maybe we’ll save that for tomorrow.”

Which implied Gil would get the nice bed _again_. Sweet.

Maybe landing in this time period wouldn’t be so bad after all. It was just nice and stressless fun. 

He grinned, grateful for his good luck. “Fine by me.” With that, Gil grabbed his blanket selection and then crawled towards the middle of the large bed, lying back against the mountain of pillows with a happy sigh. About that time Jane had finished her task and was hovering near the foot of the bed, Ben’s bedside lamp providing the only light as they settled in.

“I um…” Jane snatched up a blanket and then moved, crawling onto the bed carefully before curling up in a ball a couple feet from Gil. “Goodnight, I guess.”

“No guessing necessary,” Gil sighed. “Unless you want us to have nightmares?”

“ _No_.” Jane turned to face him, but he was pretty sure it was a reflexive thing because she seemed shocked by it half a second later. “No nightmares. Just, um- sweet dreams!”

“I second that,” Ben said, sliding onto his side of the bed. The blanket he had chosen was a bit of a monstrosity – a plaid of blue, yellow, and green that Gil immediately adored. Evie would hate it, but it looked comfy, and it was kind of cute to see a future king wrapped up in such a horrible blanket. “Goodnight, guys.”

With that, he turned off the light, showering them in darkness.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Normally when he was sleeping in a new location for the first time Gil was in for at least one restless night. Despite the sinfully comfortable bed, Gil had been expecting another night of almost-sleep, but to his surprise the sun was rising when his eyes opened, and he didn’t feel like he’d been dragged through the mud for hours on end.

It must have been because of Ben and Jane who were both still fast asleep, hair adorably mussed and blankets curled around them like suits of armor. Both of them seemed to have drawn closer to Gil in the middle of the night, though neither were touching him, seeming to take comfort in his presence alone.

He was grateful to help them the same way they helped him, so he stretched back and enjoyed the moment, resting his eyes until one of them decided to wake up.

Or until someone barged into the room unannounced – he guessed that was the same thing.

“Good morning, Master Ben,” a lady chirped. “Today we have some nice buttermilk waffles with a selection of fresh fruits for your breakfast, as well as a pot of tea should you- _Master Ben_.”

The lady, who Gil guessed was Mrs. Potts based on Mal’s descriptions, looked up from where she had been setting the breakfast table (because Ben’s room had that. At this point, Gil was willing to bet Ben’s room had a secret slide to the library) to stare at the prince’s bed.

Gil offered her a small wave while Ben struggled to coherency, blinking at the sunlight like some kind of sleepy kitten. “…yes, Mrs. Potts?”

“I…” The (helper?) lady didn’t seem to know what else to say, but she recovered quickly. “I wasn’t aware you’d be bunking with our guests.”

“What?” Ben asked, then followed Mrs. Pott’s gaze to look at Gil and Jane.

It was kind of amazing how fast he was able to get off of the bed.

“This isn’t um-” He flushed. “We’re just-”

“Blanket fort,” Gil offered while Jane mumbled in her sleep, burying her face in the covers. “We each got our own blankets.” He held his up for good measure. “Hey, Jane. Breakfast.”

“…what?” She was so cute. Like a tiny possum.

“Waffles?” Gil tried. Gil was pretty much an equal opportunity breakfast-food kind of person, but he was beginning to think waffles were near the top of his list. It was certainly nice to get something that wasn’t eggs. “And tea? There’s food.”

“But I didn’t make anything,” she muttered, rubbing at her eyes.

“Mrs. Potts did,” Gil explained, pulling himself into a sitting position. “Come on, it’s better when it’s hot.”

Granted, it was also delicious cold, but Gil had learned that Auradon people had weird standards when it came to that sort of thing. 

“Mrs Potts?” Jane pushed herself up on her elbows, squinting around the room in confusion. “Why would Mrs. Potts…?”

Jane could get off the bed almost as quickly as Ben. It was impressive.

“Oh,” she murmured to herself, seeming way more awake. “I thought that was a dream.”

“Fair enough.” Gil shrugged, climbing out of the bed himself. It wasn’t everyday a guy magically teleported into your friend’s room. “Thanks for breakfast, Mrs. Potts.”

To this point, the housekeeper (maybe? He really needed to learn her title), had mostly been silent, her signature teapot clutched in both hands as though it was some kind of an anchor. “You’re quite welcome, Mister…”

“Flynn.” Gil coughed, readjusting his bandana. He had slept in it out of habit which meant he’d need to brush out his hair later, but it’d be fine for now.

“Mr. _Flynn_.” Seeming to remember where she was, Mrs. Potts went back to pouring them tea. 

Gil waited a few seconds before making his way to the table, because he might be a guest but he wasn’t going to let the food get cold just because Ben was being weird. “What kind of tea is it?” Gil asked, trying to be well behaved. Jane – the old Jane – had informed him that this was considered polite for small talk.

Mrs. Potts stared at him as though she hadn’t expected him to be capable of such a question. Which – rude. “It’s mint, dearie.”

“Nice.” Gil hadn’t tried mint yet. He hoped it was better than the green tea he and Jay had tried in Imperial City. That stuff was _gross_.

Ben approached the table carefully, eyes trained on Mrs. Potts as he took his seat. Jane followed at a more sedate pace, like a tentative cat waiting to be scared off. Gil felt better when both of them were at the table, and when Mrs. Potts finally stepped away. It wasn’t that he had a problem with her, he just- he preferred to have his meals private, when he could. He had certainly had enough public dinners with Jay to last him a lifetime.

“Thanks, Mrs. Potts,” Ben said when they were all settled, consciously avoiding the lady’s gaze. “I’ll ring you when we’re done.”

Ring. Wow, Gil hoped he actually had a little bell for that. He wondered if Ben would let him use it.

“And um-” Ben continued, seeming to square his shoulders. “I would appreciate it if our blanket fort was not blown out of proportion.”

“Of course, Master Ben,” the housekeeper demurred, dipping in a slight courtesy. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

She bustled away before any of them could respond, and the moment the door closed behind her Ben’s shoulders slumped. “She is totally going to tell the entire staff.”

“Maybe,” Gil shrugged. “But we didn’t do anything wrong. And this is your turf anyway, so it’s not like anyone would cause you trouble either way.”

“I… suppose you have a point.”

“Of course I do,” Gil grinned. “My second point is to eat your delicious waffles while they’re hot, because I can see the steam wafting off of them and if that is not magic, I don’t know what is.”

“Kitchen magic,” Jane giggled, seeming to review her waffle in a new light.

Gil leveled a fork at her. “Exactly.”

-:-:-:-:-:-

“I have an idea,” Ben said later, and unlike every other time Gil had heard that particular sentence from the king, he couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. To be fair, Ben was literally rubbing his hands together. “To help Flynn and your mom. There’s a secret library hidden behind a column in my room-”

“Knew it,” Gil muttered.

“-that I wasn’t supposed to find, but…” Ben led them towards the column-in-question. “There’s references to magic in some of the literature. I thought if we could maybe track down some more options, we could help Fairy Godmother land Flynn in the right time period this time.”

“It’s worth a shot,” Jane agreed, though her gaze was glued to the musty room being slowly revealed to them, an anxious sort of energy setting on her shoulders. “Is that a book on Dwarven Runes?”

“I think so,” Ben motioned them in, handing Gil a lantern because secret libraries didn’t get electricity.

“Enchanted metalwork,” Jane said somewhat dreamily. “If we could get the right incantations we could-” She shoved a book in Gil’s hand. “Here, we need to start deciphering these.”

“That’s as good a starting point as any,” Ben decided, but he was grinning, because this was progress. Sort of. Or maybe he was just happy to share his secret books with other humans.

It was probably the second option.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“We should just ask Doug,” Gil declared what felt like hours later, his eyes crossing after trying translate so many incomprehensible scribbles.

Ben popped his head up from his pile of books like some kind of academic gopher. “Who?”

“Doug?” Maybe Ben had dust in his ears or something. “The dwarf guy? Son of… not the smart one, because that would make sense, but…” He trailed off at Jane and Ben’s twin looks of confusion. “You know, Doug? Plays the trumpet?” Was fluent in more languages than Gil could count? Which granted, wasn’t very high. “Doug?”

“Repeating his name isn’t helping,” Ben said, not intentionally mean because his brows were furrowed, which meant his mind was elsewhere.

“Oh.” Jane snapped, dust rising from her fingers. “You mean Dopey’s son?”

“Yeah, that guy!” How could they not know Doug? He was _Doug_. “We should ask him about this. Doug knows everything.”

“Everything?” Ben seemed to doubt this. Which was good, because he finally wasn’t just taking Gil at his word. That was a start.

“Far as I can tell,” Gil replied, nodding. “And if he doesn’t know it, he’ll figure it out.”

“…I think he’s an honor student?” Jane offered, still seeming unsure how to feel about this.

Ben set his book down. “I’ll get my assistant on it.”

It took Gil a few seconds to remember his assistant was not, in fact, Jane. At least, not yet. 

Timelines, man. They were rough.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“Um…” Eight hours or maybe forty minutes a later tentative voice broke into the silence of the secret library. “Prince Benjamin?”

“Just Ben,” the prince in-question might have tried to say, but Gil was so happy at seeing another familiar face that it was drowned out by his immediate cheer of “Doug!”

He took the excuse to abandon his research gladly, crossing the room to the other student who was just… so cute. His hair was short and slicked back but he was still rocking the sweater vest and his glasses were the same and Gil could just _feel_ like, the stability coming back to him.

“Um.” Doug shrunk back against the doorway. “Hi?”

“You don’t know me!” Gil said this as a reminder to himself, but he couldn’t help but smile, because _Doug_. “I’m- call me Flynn.”

“…okay?”

“Hi, Doug.” Jane was by their side in a moment, smoothing down her skirt and tucking a stray hair behind her ear. “This is our friend who needed your help.”

“About that,” Doug began, clutching the strap of his book bag tighter. It was noticeably lackluster and not at all Evie-approved. Definitely not enough secret pockets. “Your assistant didn’t actually say what you needed help with.”

“It’s time travel!” Gil cheered.

The blood seemed to drain from Doug’s face. “…oh.”

Ben sighed. “Why don’t we get you up-to-date with what we know?”

-:-:-:-:-:-

The good thing about having Doug around was that he was confident enough in decoding the runes that he could guide the others when they began to stray into tangents that wouldn’t help their time traveling cause (which he had taken in stride, not that Gil was surprised because it was _Doug_ ).

The bad thing about having Doug around was that by comparison Gil seemed even more useless than before, so he redirected his talents to where he’d be more helpful, trying to give positive reinforcement when Doug broke one of the ancient codes (there were a lot of them – man, ancient dwarves were paranoid).

“Yay, Doug!” Gil cheered, patting the dwarf kid on the back. “Good job! You’re awesome!” He paused when he realized Ben was staring at him with that smug expression again, and struggled to determine the reason for why that might be until he was sputtering. “I mean- Don’t listen to me, I could be lying.”

“You’re not that good an actor,” Ben said in that weirdly victorious tone Harry used sometimes.

“I _could_ be.”

“ _Or_ ,” Ben pressed. “You could be a supportive friend.”

“They do this,” Jane muttered, though it didn’t seem to help Doug’s confusion. 

“Doug.” Gil levered a finger at the dwarf kid, who seemed unsettled under the sudden attention. “I… do not order you to do anything because I um- don’t have authority over you – but like, don’t listen to me, okay? Don’t trust me.”

“Doug,” Ben cut in. “As a person who _does_ have authority over you, ignore that suggestion and follow your instincts.”

Gil scowled. “You can’t do that.”

“Sure I can,” Ben chirped. “I’m your friend.”

“They do this too,” Jane said, and the following laugh from Doug didn’t seem nearly as hysterical as it probably should have been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you it was going to get crazy! If you think I have regrets, you are wrong ;)
> 
> Hope everyone is having a good end of December! With these hectic times, your feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for all the support and enthusiasm!! That in itself is a gift I treasure very much ^_^
> 
> Story notes: 
> 
> Yes, somehow Gil has managed to get this far in the story without having ever visited Auradon Castle. Like, the bedroom section, I mean. He got to see plenty of hallways when they were fighting enchanted suits of armor. 
> 
> Did you see what I did there to get around saying actual dates? Yes, yes, that is clearly genius and not laziness, lol ;)
> 
> To clarify, Gil has been teleported to the summer before the events of Descendants 1, which I did not tag to avoid spoilers. But like, that one scene where Belle and Adam are asking Ben about his first decree – it’s around that time period. 
> 
> And you get to witness the start of me using King Adam as a minor antagonist – not because I don’t like him, but because he’s just in such a good position to provide those minor conflicts. 
> 
> Until next time :)


	9. Somewhere Warm and Sunny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING – Non-graphic nightmare in scene 8 (final scene). See endnotes for more details.

Their mad researching session was interrupted sometime later, after it had been unanimously decided that Gil's contributions should be limited to drawing supportive pictures while the others did the actual work. It was something he’d been testing out in the margins of his paper because, well, he needed to pass the time somehow and he mixed up the basic runic alphabet too much to be any help researching, so he was kind of glad for the ‘reassignment’. One of Ben's many assistants had managed to track down a sketch pad and colored pencils, and Gil was beginning to get why Mal spent so much time in her art studio. This was pretty nice.

Varian had – in the midst of his many mutterings – said that Rapunzel was an artist too. Gil had never really considered practicing art before – mostly because he’d never had access to the materials, but he could admit there was something soothing about it.   
  
He was halfway through a rough drawing of the four of them running towards the setting sun when Queen Belle pushed into the room, taking in the hustle and bustle of work (or in Gil's case, definitely _not_ work) with a small grin.   
  
Doug, who was not an old family friend of royalty (or, not _this_ royalty – he’d said something about meeting Snow White in the future once), paused his work only to stare, obviously flustered by the queen's attention.  
  
Belle offered him a dainty wave. "I see you four have been busy. Could you introduce me to your new friends, Ben?"  
  
"What?" Ben was kind of hilarious around books in that he got completely absorbed in them, leaving the outside world behind as he pursued his quest for more knowledge.   
  
It seemed the queen was used to this behavior. "Your new friends?"  
  
"Oh." Ben blinked his eyes sort of owlishly. "This is Doug." He gestured towards the still-staring dwarf kid who immediately flushed, trying to bow in his seat and only kind of succeeding. "And um- that's Flynn."   
  
"Hi." Gil waved at the queen from his spot on the floor. It was only marginally less dusty down there, but it kept him out of the way and allowed him to spread out, so everyone sort of won.   
  
"Flynn?" The queen echoed. "Like Flynn Rider? You don't hear that name often."   
  
"Exactly like that!" Gil bounced to his feet, unable to fight his excitement because maybe he’d found someone who could give him some answers. That must have been what Queen Arianna was talking about. Maybe that was where Ben had gotten the name from.   
  
Jane, who had only been paying as much attention to the conversation as manners required her to, blinked up from her thick tome. "You're named after those old books?"   
  
"Yeah?" Gil actually didn't know. It seemed like a Ben thing to do. "Are they good?"   
  
"They're wonderful," Queen Belle said, though Gil had a feeling she said that about literally every book ever. "We have the full collection in the main library. Come on." When the three researchers didn't budge, she waved her hand again. "Come on, _all_ of you. You need to take a break. You can't stay locked in this dusty room all day."  
  
Ben laughed. "That is rich coming from you."  
  
"Do as I say, not as I do," the queen offered sagely, and then she pushed open the door, giving all of them a rather pointed look.   
  
Ben sighed, as though the world's troubles were on his shoulders. Which, they sort of were.   
  
The trip to the main library was pleasant and not at all dusty, and even though Gil had gotten better at reading, it still wasn’t something he did much, and yet, it was easy to be overwhelmed by the grandeur of the library because there were so many _books_. Books about everything, he guessed. He wondered if there were stories about foreign countries or cooking, languages or histories. It probably had it all.   
  
The others seemed impressed by it too, Ben having to physically drag Doug away from a section of engineering textbooks. The corner Queen Belle led them to had yet another cozy fireplace, the couches surrounding it all lined in a pretty green velvet.   
  
"Here we are." She crouched next to a bookshelf near one of the couches and pulled out a few. "The Adventures of Flynn Rider. Go ahead." She pressed one into Gil's hand. "Take a look. All of you," she turned to the others. "Read whatever you like, as long as it has nothing to do with whatever you're researching."  
  
" _Mom_ ," Ben groaned when it became obvious he had been edging towards the magical history section.   
  
"This is leisure reading," the Queen explained, unsympathetic. “Oh, I can’t wait for you to read it,” she gushed, turning her excitement on Gil. “They’re great books for bedtime stories. My papa used to read them to me every night.”

“My mom did that with the Pixie Court books,” Jane said, her pale eyes scanning the nearest bookcase. “They’re greatly exaggerated of course, but she wanted me to have a taste of old Fae culture.” She stopped her perusal, turning to face Gil. “What about you, Flynn? What books did your parents read you?”

“Um…” Gil’s stomach felt tight, the book in his hands seeming to weigh down on him like a large boulder. “My uh… my dad doesn’t really like books.”

Gaston may have wanted to claim Queen Belle as his own, but he had hated the novels she had been so very devoted to, thinking they represented everything that was flawed, Gil guessed. If Belle hadn’t been so busy _reading,_ she would have realized how amazing Gaston was just like everyone else, and there was no way any son of his would be caught dead with their nose in a book.

On better nights, his Uncle LeFou would make up stories for him, whispered in the cramped darkness of the backroom. He wasn’t the most creative, but he’d always let Gil be the hero, let him save the beautiful princess or the beautiful prince and see rainbows and sunshine and trees. And they always lived _happily ever after_ , even if Gil didn’t understand what that was. When he was little, he’d imagined it as a life where he was exactly what his father wanted him to be, where his uncle didn’t look scared to walk through the marketplace. When he got older, he’d learned to include Uma and Harry and the rest of the crew, sunsets and fresh ocean winds and ships that didn’t threaten to fall apart.

Belatedly, he realized that the silence had been going on for too long because he’d shared an ugly thing. It seemed harmless, but they were all smart enough to read between the lines. They’d know.

A delicate hand covered his, and when Gil looked up, the queen was smiling at him, a soft sort of thing like what Uma would give him when he'd done especially well.

“As it so happens, my public speaking skills are a little rusty,” she explained, taking the book from his hand. “Would you humor me?”

Before Gil could ask what she meant, the queen was already setting herself down on one of the couches. At a loss, Gil followed her, the others arranging themselves similarly as they stared at the queen.  
  
Who just... started reading. Just for them.  
  
Gil wondered if this was what having a mother was like.   
  
He sort of hoped that it was.

-:-:-:-:-:-

"And then what happens?" Jane had one arm wrapped around the pillow clutched to her chest and the other around Gil’s bicep, as though both would somehow ground her. "Did he get out?"  
  
"She's about to get there," Gil murmured. "Right? That's what's next?"  
  
"You two would know by now if you'd let her _talk_ ," Ben sighed, because for all his objections to time being wasted he had gotten sucked into the story with the rest of them, trading whispers with Doug about historical inaccuracies that led to many a giggle session Queen Belle had to shush with an unimpressed look.  
  
"And then," Queen Belle continued as though she hadn't heard them (but she totally did, Gil had the feeling this lady heard everything). "With a mighty _swing_ of his sword, Flynn managed to cleave the lock in two and break down the door, running up the stairs to freedom!"  
  
"What about the princess?" Jane clutched Gil tighter. "He's going to save her, right? The countess had been lying about her love fading, he _has_ to save her."   
  
"I mean, he wouldn't be that good a hero if he didn't," Gil offered. "Whether she loved him or not. Rescues should not be conditional to whether someone returned your feelings, right?"  
  
"That sounds like it could be a thesis paper," Doug said distractedly, likely already writing said paper in his mind. "Actually, if you think about it-"  
  
" _Guys_ ," Ben sighed. "We're going to have to stop talking if we want to find out what happens anytime soon."   
  
"Actually, I think you're going to have to wait until after dinner as it is." Queen Belle closed the book gently, sliding a bookmark into place as she settled the worn novel on a low polished table. "It seems your father has need of me."  
  
"Don't mind me." All of them jumped at the sound of King Adam's voice, Ben's father lingering near the bookcase divider that had separated their reading nook from the rest of the library. "I was enjoying the story too. I haven't read it in a long time."  
  
"Too long," Queen Belle decided, rising to her feet. "I'll have to leave you guys for now, but if you'd like, we can read the next chapter tonight."  
  
"You don't mind?" Gil asked instead of taking the gift for what it was, because that was what Auradon people did, they gave and thought nothing of it, had no alternate motives in mind. "Aren't you busy?"  
  
"I'm never too busy for a good book," Belle declared with a wink, and then she was leaving, arm-in-arm with her once upon a time captor, now-upon-a-time king and father of her hopeless booknerd of a child.   
  
" _Wow_ ," Jane sighed kind of dreamily when they left. "I didn't realize those books were so good."  
  
Ben grinned, stretching out his arms. "They are classics for a reason. And you know what? I'm glad mom made us take a break. This was nice."  
  
"Yeah," Gil agreed, even though he hadn't been working. "This was... that was really cool, Ben."  
  
"You should draw her a picture," Jane said out of the blue. "Like, a thank you picture. Maybe a bookmark?"  
  
"She'd like that," Ben said.   
  
"And we could all sign it." Gil was starting to really like this idea. "Good call, Jane. I'll do that while you guys look at runes."   
  
"But first," Ben cut in. "Dinner."  
  
On cue, their stomachs seemed to rumble, displeased at having been ignored for so long.

Okay, it was only Doug's stomach that rumbled, but to be fair, he hadn't had an awesome waffle breakfast.   
  
The dwarf kid blushed. "Yeah, dinner sounds good."

-:-:-:-:-:-

“Do one of you guys want to move to the inside?” Gil asked when they were getting ready for bed that night, Gil going through the song and dance of picking what would be Doug’s blanket. This involved holding up two of them until the dwarf kid pointed at one, and then Gil abandoning the one that hadn’t been chosen for a fresh candidate. The process confused Doug, who seemed to think he should go with the first blanket he’d seen. The poor, uneducated soul.

“What?” Jane looked up from where she was brushing her hair, staring at Gil in the reflection of Ben’s vanity mirror.

“Do one of you guys want to move to the inside?” Gil repeated. “Or do you want to stay on the outside?” He turned to Doug. “That would put you on the inside with me.”

Doug’s brows furrowed. “The inside of what?”

“The bed.” Gil tossed aside the latest reject and went with a blanket he had dubbed Sir Flufferkins of cotton land. “Ben and Jane usually sleep on the outside.”

“The outside,” Doug repeated, sounding out the words carefully. “Of what?”

“The _bed_.”

Honestly, it was like he wasn’t even listening.

Doug sputtered. “Do you, um-” He dropped his voice to a frantic whisper. “ _Share the bed?_ ”

“ _Why are we whispering?”_ Gil shot back, but Doug only looked more panicked, so he decided to answer his question. “Do you see that bed? It is huge. It could fit like, twelve people-”

“Eight people,” Ben piped up from behind his desk, looking like he immediately regretted his contributions when his cheeks flushed.

“It can fit _eight people_ ,” Gil corrected. “So we share it, because it’s huge. And you’re going to share it too, unless-” Gil blinked. “Unless you don’t want to, because personal space is important and you don’t have do anything you don’t want to do.”

There, that was sort of what Evie had said that one time.

Doug blinked at him, seeming kind of dazed. Gil was getting that reaction a lot. “I’m uh… fine with the middle.”

“Cool!” Gil pumped his fist, using his free hand to press the final blanket into Doug’s chest. “Do you want Ben or Jane? Neither of them snore, but Jane might take custody of your arm and you won’t get it back until she wakes up which-” He turned in her direction. “- _i_ _sn’t a problem_ , I just thought you should be warned.”

Gil didn’t actually know that yet, but Jay had complained about it before so it seemed fair to warn Doug now.

“Um…” Doug blushed harder. These people. “I’ll take my chances.”

Gil shrugged. “More Ben for me.”

By his desk, Ben seemed to choke on nothing.

Seriously, how was this guy a king? 

-:-:-:-:-:-

Four days in and Queen Belle finally put her foot down.   
  
"Enough." With an unfair amount of grace, she managed to steal the two books Ben had been referencing before he could so much as consider putting up a fight. "You guys have made great headway, but now you need to actually enjoy your summer. Fairy Godmother and the others can figure this out from here."  
  
"But..." Ben was still blinking at the empty space where his books used to be. "We're really getting somewhere."  
  
"Yes, you are." She didn't make their contributions seem any less than they were, which Gil thought was nice. "But you will be stepping up as the next successor come coronation day and after that you definitely won't have time to be a teenager, so you're taking a break now. _All_ of you." She smiled at the lot of them, a soft, sparkly thing. "Go. Enjoy your summer. We've got this."  
  
Gil frowned. "Are you sure-"  
  
"That included you, Flynn." She said it kindly, like she'd been expecting his protest. She probably had been, because she was scary smart. "Now get out of this dusty room and enjoy some sunshine."  
  
That was how they ended up in the palace gardens having teatime, Gil sprawled out on the grass as he stared at the variety of flower bushes, soaking up the sun’s rays.   
  
"So." Doug cleared his throat awkwardly. "If you don't need me for research anymore, I suppose I should go."  
  
What?

"What?" Gil said.   
  
Ben tensed, but nodded. "Of course. Thank you for your help, Doug. Your contributions have been invaluable."  
  
"What?" Gil repeated, a little louder. "Doug's not staying?"   
  
Both of the boys seemed to freeze.   
  
"I mean-" Gil rushed to correct himself. "Right. You probably already had summer plans that you dropped for us. Thank you. What Ben said. You really are the best."   
  
"I don't-" Doug looked down, his cheeks flushed. "Thanks, Flynn."   
  
Gil missed whatever subtext had been there, but Ben seemed to catch it, his interest piqued again, like he had managed to hold onto one of those manuals his mom had confiscated. "If you... if you're not busy, Doug, you're more than welcome to stay." This earned him a look of surprise, which seemed enough to convince Ben to keep going. "I really enjoy your company. I'm glad we got the chance to know you."  
  
"I also enjoy your company," Gil volunteered. "Because you are a cool guy."  
  
"Me?" Doug scrunched his nose in a picture of confusion. "Cool?"   
  
"Oh, yeah." Gil eyed a nearby rosebush, wondered if he should give sketching it a shot. He was getting better, though most of his stuff still looked like a cartoon. "You and Jane and Ben, I mean. You're all super smart and super nice. That's like, the epitome of cool."  
  
A pleased grin spread across Jane's face, her cheeks flushed from the gentle heat of the sun. "Thanks, Flynn. And..." She turned her smile on Doug. "I enjoy your company too. It'd be fun if you stayed."  
  
"But we understand if you need to go," Gil added, because he practiced what was in Evie's thoughtfulness pamphlets.

The one good thing about all the testing was that Gil knew he would have aced Remedial Goodness 101. In fact, Fairy Godmother said he had tested out of that class so he wouldn't have to attend it when he actually got to Auradon Prep. Sure, it technically meant he was a failure as a villain, but Gil was okay with that.   
  
Doug stewed this over for a minute. "I've got to call my dad, but otherwise I'd um- I'd like to stay with you guys."   
  
"Awesome!" Gil cheered, throwing a fist into the air. "Secret summer shenanigans all the way!" He grinned, and this time it was because he couldn't help himself, because he felt so genuinely happy. "So uh... what do teenagers do during the summer anyway?"   
  
"You don't know?" Jane asked. "What do you normally do?"   
  
"Um..." Gil had never experienced a summer vacation before. Any kind of vacation on the Isle was sort of laughable, but he supposed his ambassador job with Jay sort of counted as one. "I usually go exploring, I guess, but we probably can't do that."  
  
"Says who?" Ben asked, and Gil was proud of the fact that he recognized that as a rhetorical question. "We could explore the castle and the nearby properties. Explore Auradon city. We've got options."   
  
"Creatively interpreted options," Jane mused, her eyes already narrowed in thought.   
  
"I could show you the Enchanted Lake." Ben was excited now, his words coming faster than his normally composed disposition allowed. "Wait, have you already seen that?"   
  
No, but Gil had seen Jane completely soak Ben in magic water from said lake, though that probably didn't count. "Nope. We can explore that together."  
  
"Sweet," Ben said, and it didn't even seem… ironic? Was that the word Harry used?  
  
"I'll admit, completing a list of stereotypical teen activities does hold a certain scientific appeal," Doug murmured. He was thinking now too, and once he started coordinating with Jane, all hope would be lost. For boredom, Gil guessed.   
  
"Let's do it, then," Ben decided, rising to his feet as though they were going to get started then and there. "We've got half a summer of freedom. Why not enjoy it while we can?"  
  
"That's... rhetorical?" Gil asked, considering his options carefully. Twice in one conversation – it could happen.   
  
"Yep," Jane confirmed, already getting out her pink and blue sparkly notebook. "Now, let's start planning."   
  
"It's the only way to be thorough," Doug said, as though anyone was going to argue with him.   
  
Guy was literally preaching to the detailed-plan choir. If Evie and Carlos had been present, there would already be color coding and diagrams. For _science_.   
  
Gil couldn't wait for them to finally meet the VKs, but until then, he'd take Queen Belle's advice and enjoy this while he could.   
  
Because eventually, he'd have to get back to Corona.   
  
And eventually, he'd have to face the king and queen.

-:-:-:-:-:-

It was fun getting to know the three of them. Well, getting to know their younger versions, because the older versions Gil had only ever interacted with peripherally with the exception of Doug (and sometimes Ben), and Gil felt bad about that, because a guy as smart as him shouldn’t be stuck with a person as dumb as Gil.

They spent one day constructing kites and watching movies and then the next Ben took them to ‘explore’ a private cove, armed with a picnic basket courtesy of Mrs. Potts and a bounty of sunscreen that the queen had made them swear to periodically replace. They spent an afternoon flying their colorful creations until an accidental midair collision, broke for lunch and then finally got in the water. Jane was shy about getting in the waves for whatever reason, which may or may not have led to Gil bodily picking her up and jumping off the dock with her clutched in his arms, the young fairy shrieking until they hit the water.

Ben and Doug thought it was hilarious until Gil repeated the process with them, and while Ben was too busy laughing to put up a fight, Doug was mostly resigned by the time Gil got to him, his cheeks flushed in the beginnings of a sunburn because _someone_ forgot to reapply.

They spent a morning trying to learn how to make travel foods under Mrs. Potts’ tutelage and the only one who was even close to successful was Jane, though Ben was relentless in his quest to achieve mediocrity, refusing to surrender even with flour dusting his hair. They took their picnic feast to the stables where they discovered how horribly unpracticed Doug and Jane were at riding horses (that, at least, Gil knew – thanks DunBroch), so Gil and Ben decided to go ahead and double up and take two horses out instead of four. The end result was Doug nestled in the front of Gil’s saddle; Gil wrapping one arm around his waist to keep him stabilized while the other guided the horse. Across the way, Jane sat behind Ben, her cheeks wind burned a pretty shade of pink. 

They managed to find a distant field out on the castle grounds to share their treats, Gil pointing out the flowers that he recognized and Jane supplying the names of those he didn’t. On the way back he and Ben switched passengers, and Gil got to keep a running commentary with Jane about Ben’s epic failures in cooking until she was giggling nonstop.

One morning they all dressed ‘incognito’ with hoods and baseball hats and fake glasses (on Ben’s part) and headed down to the museum where Doug gave them a walking tour of Auradon’s history, sometimes spending fifteen minutes at a particular exhibit when it caught his fancy. Gil steered clear of the Hall of Villains. Jay had said his dad- that _Gaston’s_ hunting bow was in there, and Gil didn’t want to look at it, not after all the times he’d been threatened by its absence, because if _‘he had his bow, you wouldn’t dare run, would you?’_. 

Gil didn’t understand or appreciate all the exhibits but he did take the chance to sketch the others in their natural learning habitat, managing to capture Doug’s awed grin or the enthusiastic slant of Ben’s eyebrow as they read over facts they likely already knew.

They spent lunch in a cozy café sampling ‘tourist food’ and ended the meal with yogurt parfaits that made Jane glow with happiness, and Gil even stopped eating his halfway through so she could finish it off just because she loved them so much, and he liked to see her happy.

Each night ended in the library after dinner, Queen Belle reading them another few chapters of the _Tales of Flynn Rider_ while they sipped cups of tea or cocoa or cider (which had apples and cinnamon and _goodness_ ) before they went to bed, and it got to the point where the others traded out spots but seemed fine with Gil sleeping in the middle, which he preferred, honestly. It was nice and weird but good, and Gil wondered if he could ever do this summer vacation thing again someday, except maybe with Harry and Uma as well. They would have liked it, and in honor of their absence, Gil tried to appreciate it twice as much. If they couldn’t be here, at least he’d bring them stories.

It was the fairest trade he could come up with. 

-:-:-:-:-:-

"Ben?" Jane spoke up halfway through lunch, prodding her food more than she'd been eating it, which was how Gil knew something was wrong. Jane loved strawberry salad. "Would Audrey be mad about... you know."   
  
"Who's Audrey?" Gil asked before his filter could catch up and remind him that Jane had been talking to Ben and not him.  
  
Still, it seemed to shake the young fairy out of her daze, and she faced him with clear focus. "Audrey is Queen Aurora and King Phillip's daughter. She's the princess of Auroria, and... Ben's girlfriend."  
  
"Huh," Gil huffed. "I forgot that Ben had a girlfriend before Ma-" Belatedly, Gil realized he was about to say a thing he _definitely_ should not say. "Maaa-yyyyyyyyy food is delicious."

Wow. Beautiful save. Ten out of ten on the swagger scale.   
  
Jay would be laughing so hard right now.   
  
Gil shoveled another bite of food into his mouth to keep himself from talking, and groaned. "Wow, that is the best."   
  
"Flynn?" Of course Ben wasn't deterred, because Ben was the most stealthily stubborn human in all of existence. He seemed calm and nice and patient because he was, but he could also be relentless when he put his mind to it. "What was that?"  
  
"Nothing!" Gil chirped. "I didn't say anything that I um... definitely should not have said. Hey, is that cantaloupe?"  
  
Ben pulled the bowl of grapes out of Gil's reach, refusing to let him use the same gag twice. "Flynn..."  
  
"Oh, come _on_ ," Gil sighed, plopping his fork down beside his plate. So he'd forgotten for like, half a second about who the pink-obsessed chick that had cast a sleeping spell over all of Auradon was. That wasn't a crime. "I can't talk about it."   
  
"Are you saying I break up with Audrey?" Ben didn't seem upset by this, more curious than anything else, his thirst for knowledge lit into a stubborn flame.   
  
"I'm not saying anything." Mostly because Gil didn't want to break the timeline. He cared about the timeline, he lived in it. "Maybe you guys will date forever, maybe you won't, it's up to you. Yay choices!" Gil offered Ben some spirit fingers (Jane had showed him, it was part of her routine for cheerleader tryouts, and Gil loved them a lot).   
  
Ben wasn't fooled by the show, but mostly it was because he seemed lost in thought, like he was reviewing everything that had led to this moment.   
  
It made Gil distinctly uncomfortable. "Hey uh- where is Audrey, by the way?"   
  
The four of them had spent the past few weeks together, Gil would have expected like, a call from her at some point.   
  
"Spa retreat," Ben said, as though those were words that made sense. "She's decompressing before the new school year. They make all the participants surrender their electronics to promote um- 'good chi'."  
  
"Qi," Gil corrected, remembering his stuttered lessons with General Fa. She'd been patient as she ran Gil and Jay through the explanations, and it only made Gil admire her more.  
  
Ben gave him a blank stare. No, a surprised one. "Right. I won't be seeing her until the week before school."   
  
"So she probably won't be mad about this," Gil said, answering Jane's original question. "Can't get mad at us for hogging Ben if she's decompressing. Not that I blame her." Gil picked his fork back up, distraction successfully implemented. "I've never been to a spa, but I heard they're pretty cool. Makes sense to spend time there."  
  
Jane blinked slowly. "I've never been to a spa either. My mom says they're not necessary."   
  
Slowly, Doug looked between the two of them, and the thoughtful expression on Ben's face. "I think I know how we're spending tomorrow."   
  
"Really?" Gil asked. "Did you finish that- what was it, predictive behavior... thing?"  
  
"Um, not yet," Doug seemed all hot under his collar. "But that's not why-"  
  
"I actually have some suggestions for that," Jane said, whipping out a piece of pink paper that had been folded in the shape of a flower. Gil had done it earlier just to see her smile, and it had totally been worth the handful of minor papercuts.   
  
In the meantime, Ben said nothing, which meant he couldn't ask about his future (ex) girlfriend(s).  
  
Points to the Gil-meister for that one.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Spas were weird.

Granted, any place that required you to strip down to your skivvies was automatically suspect in Gil’s book, but that seemed to be the entire point of the spa. He found himself mostly apologizing to the massage people (they had a different name but he already forgot it) for his scars, but all of them were polite enough to assure him it was fine. On the bright side, all the weird spa stuff happened in private rooms, so the others didn’t see the old wounds.

He reconvened with the others by a bank of weird leather chairs that also massaged (double massaged? Gil didn’t know) while some people busied themselves by giving them manicures and pedicures and smearing green minty stuff on their faces. 

Overall, it was kind of a fun experience – at least for the story it provided. 

“I don’t understand the purpose of this,” Doug said eventually. “But it was kind of nice.”

“I liked that hot room with the steam,” Gil said. “It was so cute.”

“I don’t think aesthetics was the point of that room,” Ben said. “But hey, appreciate the spa how you will.”

“Thanks,” Gil chirped, and that pretty much was that.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“No!” Phantom hands were reaching for Gil, black spikes bursting from the ground that threatened to crack apart underneath his feet. He tried to run but his legs refused to work, boneless and uncoordinated as the shadows grew larger, Cassandra’s cackling voice echoing from every direction.

“ _Come, my sweet_ ,” her silky tone drawled, jagged stone claws digging into Gil’s hair and yanking, trying so hard to pull it from his scalp, desperate for its power. “ _I need your sunlight to guide the way, and you’re not using it_.”

She tugged harder until tears spilled from Gil’s eyes, his mouth hanging open but he couldn’t get any air, everything too hot and oppressive and crushing him in stone, everywhere stone.

“ _Gilly, Gilly_ ,” she sang, stealing Harry’s nickname and twisting it into something dark. “ _Let down your hair-_ ”

“No!” Gil struggled against the hands that held him, even though the air was breathable again – not that he’d know because he was too busy sobbing, raking his hands through his hair in a desperate search for Cassandra’s stone fingers. “Don’t let her take it! Don’t-” He curled in on himself with a sob. 

He needed to steady his breathing, like Uma taught him. Needed to focus on something outside his head, listen to something, feel something. Cassandra’s wicked laughter was ringing in his ears but beyond that were distant murmurs, soft things, calming things in familiar voices. Gil’s chest heaved as he forced himself to focus on what he felt – cool, soft blankets – nicer than anything he’d known before, fluffy and comforting – the bed. He was- it was Ben’s bed. He wasn’t back in the Dark Kingdom. Cassandra was gone. Or, she would be.

Eventually, his cries died down and he could actually hear the others, could see Jane’s panicked gaze as she tried to detangle his hands from his hair.

“It’s okay, Flynn, it’s okay,” she was saying in steady mantra. “She isn’t here. You’re safe.”

“No one’s going to take it,” Ben was muttering, curling around their heads so he could help Jane. “Okay? No one’s getting your hair.”

“Should we call someone?” Doug was pressed to Gil’s back, his voice steady save for a slight quiver. “Should I get Mrs. Potts?”

“N-No,” Gil groaned. “I- I’m back, now. Sorry. S-Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Ben immediately soothed because Ben was too nice for this world. “Everyone gets nightmares, Flynn.”

Yes, but not everyone still had to run from them. Not everyone had brilliant symbols of what they could lose plastered to their heads, unyielding, unbreakable. That was just Gil.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jane asked, trying to be kind.

Gil shook his head, forcing his hands down to rest against the blankets. His bandana had gotten lost somewhere in the throes of his nightmare, and his hair tie was missing too, leaving his hair to spill across the pillows in a tangled mess.

“Sorry.” He said again. “I can- I’ll leave-”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Doug said, fierce, and then- “Unless you really want to, because your choices are important and respected, but if you’re worried about whether _we_ want you to go anywhere, know that we don’t.”

“Please stay,” Jane urged, delicate fingers brushing against Gil’s cheeks, wiping away tears as though her very happiness depended on it, as though it were Carlos who needed her comfort. “It will be alright, Flynn. It will all be okay.”

It wasn’t a promise she could keep, but Gil appreciated it all the same.

“Come on.” Ben urged them into the sitting position, Doug and Jane following with twin looks of confusion that Gil would have copied if he wasn’t so tired. Ben led them towards the couches, pressing some buttons on a random remote until part of the wall slid away, revealing a television. “I think it’s time for a movie.”

“Oh, let’s see one of the Flynn Rider ones your mom talked about.” Despite her earlier uncertainty, Jane seemed to really get into the idea, grabbing up a few blankets as they approached the couch. “The one with the minstrel?”

It was Gil’s favorite, because Flynn and the minstrel traveled the land together like the most epic of bros, like Jay and Gil had once upon a time. Though honestly, Gil pretended it was Jay who was the dashing Flynn Rider, Gil happy to provide his musical accompaniment. At least, in his dreams.

“That sounds good.” Ben sat himself down in the middle of the couch and then reached for Gil’s wrist, tugging him down until-

“I-” Gil flushed, because Ben was pulling him into his lap. “I’ll crush you.”

“No you won’t,” Ben decided, stubborn streak shining through once again because his eyes were already glued on the screen, flicking through different menus due to the argument being over. At least, in his opinion.

Gil wanted to squirm away, but Jane was already curled against his back, Doug lifting Gil’s feet to rest in his lap on Ben’s other side, one hand curling around Gil’s ankle. It left his head resting against Ben’s shoulder like it was the easiest thing in the world, Jane’s gentle hums buzzing against his spine.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he stayed awake for the opening titles, but he was pretty sure that was the point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the feedback and support!! It is a real comfort to know that whatever shenanigans my brain decides to run with, there are people willing to tag along for the ride. So thank you, you awesome cheerleading people ^_^ This marks my last update for 2020, and my first full year of posting Descendants’ content. I’ve posted 800,000 + words this year, which is who knows how many chapters, and I’m gonna see if I can improve upon that for next year. Thank you guys for being such a joy to write for! It really is a gift :)
> 
> On a different note, now that I’ve been writing for Descendants for over a year now, I do have rough drafts/writing prompts that never quite made it off the ground. I’ve been contemplating posting the ones that didn’t make it if they’ve been abandoned for over a year, but wanted to see if there’d be any interest first for the unfinished prompts. They’d be a lot like the Deleted Scenes chapters I post, where I try to fill in the blanks as best I can and then maybe put the stories up for adoption. 
> 
> Just an idea I’m toying around with because I’m usually not one for drabble collections. Please let me know if you have any thoughts! Your feedback is always greatly appreciated :)
> 
> Story notes:
> 
> The Pixie Court books are entirely made up for the purposes of this story. What they entail, why that is entirely up to you ;D
> 
> There really wasn’t any reason for Gil to correct Ben, since it is – according to my very brief google search – pronounced ‘chi’ anyway. Just wanted to show off Gil’s mystery.
> 
> While it was not explicitly stated, Doug and Gil were both wearing swim shirts when they hit the beach. 
> 
> WARNING – Non-graphic nightmare – At the beginning of scene 8, the final scene, Gil has a nightmare about what happened under the spike barricade in the Dark Kingdom. It does not get graphic in any way, but he is afraid of getting attacked or trapped. If you would prefer to skip this, look for the line:
> 
> ‘Eventually, his cries died down and he could actually hear the others, could see Jane’s panicked gaze as she tried to detangle his hands from his hair.’ 
> 
> It is safe to read on from there. 
> 
> Until next time :)


	10. Nothing I Couldn’t Do

“A ball!” Ben said, breaking the most fundamental library rule _in his own library_ by shouting out this seemingly important news. “Guys, we’re going to host a midsummer ball!”

Gil blinked up from his sketchbook, not entirely sure how this applied to them. “…yay?”

“Ah,” Doug mused. “We’ll be sure to stay in your room, then.”

“Movie night?” Jane offered. And then paused. “Do you need our help getting things ready?”

At that, Gil perked up. “I’m great at moving things!”

Ben considered them all with an expression that may have been despairing were he one to contemplate such things. “Um- maybe? I’ll check with Cogsworth.”

“Please do,” Gil said, parroting one of his favorite phrases he had learned from Mrs. Potts. “I’d like to help you guys as much as you’ve helped me.” Even if that would be an impossible debt to pay.

Ben’s expression melted into something a little more fond. “I’ll see what I can do.”

-:-:-:-:-:-

“It’s a _masquerade_ ball,” Ben explained over dinner, looking especially proud of himself. “Everyone’s going to wear masks!”

“That’s… kind of a weird theme,” Jane said, and Gil was so proud of her for openly stating a not-entirely-positive opinion that he could have just _burst_. “Don’t you usually do that sort of thing in the fall?”

“Yeah, well.” Ben blinked, like he hadn’t expected to be called out on that. “That’s what makes it so unexpected.” He stared at his food for a moment, then turned to Doug and Gil. “What do you guys think?”

“I mean, if people haven’t gotten their mask yet, they’ll probably just use the one they got last year,” Gil offered.

“Sounds kind of sweaty to me,” Doug said. “But I’m not really up-to-date on royal functions.”

Ben’s face shifted into something unreadable, though Gil got the strong feeling that he might be pouting for some reason. 

Like, not everyone could win _every_ time, even young-Ben needed to learn that. Young Ben and his weird fixation on masks.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Gil spent the day of the masquerade running around the ballroom, climbing up and down ladders to help string up garlands and draperies and all kinds of fancy things. Cogsworth seemed to approve of his enthusiasm to carry whatever he needed, whenever he needed it, and by the time Gil was done with setup, he was happy to collapse into the shower and change into pajamas for their super comfy movie night. 

He was out of the shower, trying to recreate some hairstyle from a magazine on Jane after the young fairy’s shy insistence that it couldn’t be done (Uma had allowed him to help braid her hair for years, and now he got to put that knowledge to the test), when Ben sort of derailed things.

The prince was doing that thing where he looked nervous even though he shouldn’t, because years of etiquette classes should have trained him out of the habit, so like, that made him even _more_ nervous. “Okay, so this might be overstepping some boundaries-”

“Dude.” Gil looked up from where he was braiding Jane’s hair, careful not to tug too hard on the silky tresses. “You literally share your bed with us. I’m pretty sure you’d give us the shirt off your back if we looked even slightly cold. You are like, due for overstepping boundaries. Or you don’t have to worry about it. Either way.”

Gil had started just above Jane’s left eye and was twisting the strands into a French braid across the top of her head, sort of like her signature hairband. The rest of it he would tuck into a small bun at the base of her neck, assuming he could figure out how to do it. Dizzy made it seem easy enough. 

“Still...” Ben flushed. “I was thinking since it is a masquerade ball maybe you guys could join us in the ballroom? I’ve um- already gotten you outfits, if you’d like to come.”

“Was that the overstepping part?” Gil asked. Beneath his fingers Jane seemed to forget how to breathe, then discovered it very quickly to make an effort to quietly hyperventilate. “You getting us clothes?”

“I um-” Ben paused, which was how Gil knew he’d hit the nail on the head. “Yes. Not that there’s anything wrong with your clothes-”

“You just want us to blend in.” Gil waved him off. “Relax, we get it. Doug?” The other teen blinked out of his reverie, because he’d frozen up around the time Ben had started mentioning the ball. “Are you interested?”

Doug considered his options. “For scientific reasons, it could be an interesting experience.”

“Yes,” Gil mused. “Can’t forget about science. Jane?”

“There will be _royalty_ there,” she hissed.

“Don’t you go to school with princesses?” Gil had thought that was a whole thing at Auradon Prep.

“With _princesses_ , not their parents. And besides, they mostly ignore me.”

Because they were dumb.

“Well, now you can see them in their natural habitat without them knowing you’re there,” Gil chirped, finishing up her braid. It looked worthy of ball shenanigans. Uma would be proud. “Ben already got us fancy clothes, what’s the harm?”

Jane chewed on her pink lip and in the reflection of the mirror, and Gil could see Ben’s gaze zero in on that action. “I suppose when you put it like that…”

“Ben,” Gil offered the prince a wink. “Looks like you’ve overstepped yourself into a party.”

It was a throwaway comment at best, but Ben still seemed to preen under it, his face splitting in a grin that could have glowed as powerfully as Gil’s stupid hair. “Oh. Okay, then. I’ll just-” He scrambled into his closet, reemerging seconds later with a couple of garment bags. “The tailors made them special, so everything should fit okay.”

“I feel like you might have been planning to overstep for longer than you’ve let on,” Doug noted, a smirk tugging at his lips.

Ben’s cheeks flushed. “… _maybe_.”

“Come on,” Gil finished off Jane’s bun and made grabby hands at the bags. “I wanna see Jane’s dress. Is it blue? I’m hoping it’s blue.”

“It’s blue,” Ben confirmed with a laugh. “To um… bring out her eyes.”

“And because it’s her favorite color,” Gil continued, and he must have learned that from old-Jane because the young one looked at him in surprise before taking her dress bag. 

What, like that was supposed to be a secret?

“Let’s see these party clothes,” Gil cheered. “They’re not um- too fancy though, are they?”

-:-:-:-:-:-

“This is very fancy,” Jane said, modelling her new dress in front of the full-length mirror, looking like she wanted to start hyperventilating again.

“Yeah, it’s awesome,” Gil said, trying to get Jane to see that she was totally rocking that ballgown. It was a pretty light blue made out of a fluttery material that had a V sort of neck and no sleeves. That in itself would have been cool, but Ben had also gotten his tailors to sew these delicate looking jeweled butterflies along the bodice and around the waist, scattering down the skirt as well, as though Jane had been wandering through a butterfly garden and made a bunch of new friends. The skirt puffed out as all good ballgowns should, and the resulting product was dramatic and very fitting for someone of Jane’s elegance.

“I don’t think I can wear this.” Jane seemed torn, so it was more likely that she _thought_ she shouldn’t wear it.

“You’re already wearing it,” Doug noted. “And you look very lovely.”

Doug seemed calm and collected now, but even he had been bashful when he had first looked at his own clothes. The suit Ben had gotten him had black, satin pants that came with a matching vest cut so low you could see his shirt, which was a vibrant sort of dark purple that closed up with shiny black buttons. The coat itself was a purple velvet, though the lapels were black, and of course Ben had gotten Doug a bowtie to go with it, making the bookworm seem sleek and chic and definitely Evie-approved. 

“What he said,” Gil chirped. “And if you’re worried about your mom finding out, you’re gonna be wearing a mask anyway! So she won’t. It’s all good.” 

“But what about the rest of it?” Jane motioned towards the accessories Ben had left for her on the side table, a variety of pale pinks and blues that matched Jane’s signature color pallet. “The gloves are okay but the rest looks… expensive.”

“Trust me, it is,” Doug said, showing off his dwarven gem knowledge. “Maybe put them on last?”

Gil scrunched his nose. “It’s just jewelry.” A bracelet and a pair of earrings. Sure, they were both very shiny, the bracelet positively dripping with pink crystals, but the two earrings were just large teardrop shaped stones, one pink and one blue. “Ben got them ‘cuz he thought you’d like them.”

It seemed like a Ben thing to do. The crown prince had already left them to see to what he called ‘royal family’ duties, leaving the rest of them to get ready on their own. Thankfully, Doug was there, because there were a few pieces of Gil’s outfit he did not understand the purpose of.

Jane ducked her head, a flush spreading across the bridge of her nose. “Ben forgets I’m not a princess.”

“Sure you are.” Gil had met enough princesses to know that Jane was strong enough to be one and then some. “You’re a princess of books and of fairies and being really good at croquet.” She was as skilled at it as she was vicious and Gil loved that about her a lot. “You’re our princess.”

Jane could rule a kingdom, if she wanted to. She wouldn’t, because she’d rather back up Ben and Mal, support their dreams by taking care of the detail work, but she _could_ do it if she had the desire, which made her a princess in Gil’s book. She was certainly more deserving of royalty than Gil was.

“Yeah, Jane,” Doug said quietly, an uncharacteristic amount of care in his tone. “You’re our princess.”

And it didn’t even sound _that_ cliché.

She seemed to bask under the glow of their attention, her gaze drifting from Doug to Gil in the reflection of the mirror before moving on with a curt nod, sliding the long silky light blue gloves up her forearms. “Okay. Okay, I’ll- I’ll wear it. Them.” She looked at Gil in the reflection of the mirror. “You should finish getting ready, Flynn.”

“Yeah, um…” So it was totally hypocritical of Gil to give Jane a pep talk about how she could rock her dress and then immediately feel awkward and out of place by his own suit but Gil wasn’t that great a person anyway so here he was. “I think Ben has mistaken me for someone who does not spill food all over themselves.” Which was like, one of Gil’s hidden talents, unfortunately. “I’ll just… dig through his closet for literally any other color suit.”

Jane and Doug turned on him in eerie synchronization, twin looks of _‘Oh, hell no’_ on their faces.

“Guys,” Gil whined, because he was not above whining. “It’s so… _white_.”

White pants and a white shirt and a white vest and coat that had gold embroidery down the sides. There was a white neck-thing that wasn’t a tie and white buttons and a white belt and what Gil was pretty sure was a diamond broach lined with gold and he was going to ruin it in like two seconds.

It was also _way_ too fancy for Gil in every way it could be fancy, and why the hell had Ben thought this was a good idea?

At least the shoes were black. That was something. 

“Ben got it for you,” Jane said, turning her bewitching doe eyes on him. “Made it for you especially, because he thought you’d like it.”

Curse her ability to use Gil’s own arguments against him.

“You’re good enough to wear it, Flynn,” Doug cut in evenly, and Gil had to fight back a flinch because maybe that had been ringing through his head – it was too fancy and he wasn’t fancy, was born in dirt and rotten wood and he didn’t want to feel like a fraud even though he had every day, ever since they’d stumbled into Corona.

He wished they’d never gone there.

“…Flynn?” Jane’s gloved hands took Gil’s calloused ones between them, her tone concerned and it wasn’t fair that Gil might be secret royalty but Jane wasn’t, because Jane was delicate but fierce and true. 

“I’ll um… need help with the neck thing,” Gil decided, grabbing up his garment bag. “Be right back.”

He ducked into the bathroom before either of them could do something nice like comfort him.

-:-:-:-:-:-

In the light of the bathroom, none of the clothes got less white or intimidating but at least Gil had privacy as he shrugged out his old clothes – nice, Auradon commissioned things because Queen Belle had gone on a shopping spree on Gil’s behalf even though he’d insisted three pairs of clothes were more than enough (he’d lived with less, honestly). Gil flushed when he realized Ben had even gotten him underwear, though he assumed the beige material was so it um- wouldn’t show through the stupid white pants. Gil avoided his reflection in the mirror as he got dressed, hands lingering on his bandana when he finished with the shirt and vest. 

He tugged it off carefully, tucking the material into his suit jacket’s inner pocket for later. Ben had been apologetic about the restrictions on headwear for the ball, but he’d come up with a compromise, he _promised_ , before responsibility had whisked him away.

For lack of anything else to do, Gil twisted his hair back into a French braid, keeping it tucked close to his scalp, and then shrugged on the fancy embroidered jacket. He fiddled around with the collar a bit before he realized there was a white hood attached to it and- that was just for Gil, he knew. There was no way that was standard fancy clothes fashion, Ben had designed that just for Gil, so he could continue to hide one of his least favorite features.

He tied the mask on – white with gold metal tendrils that surrounded the eyes and curved around the outside – before pulling the hood over his hair, stepping back to finally look at his reflection.

The person he saw didn’t seem much like him, which actually worked out since his presence was supposed to be a secret anyway. 

It was good. This was good. 

By the time he walked back into the bedroom, Jane and Doug had their masks on too. Jane’s was, of course, a pale pink, covered in a lacey sort of material with a large feather and flower attached to the right side. Doug’s mask was more subdued, a dark gray with silver swirls under the eyes. 

They both froze when Gil entered the room.

“…Flynn,” Jane’s voice was quiet, and Gil was glad she had decided to wear the jewelry after all because the pink and blue earrings did her justice – the pink twist of a bracelet shimmered as brightly as Jane did under the lights of the room. “You…”

“Don’t know how to put this on.” Gil held up the neck thing. “Doug?”

That startled the other teen from whatever had been distracting him. “Yeah. Yeah, I can-”

His fingers were gentle around Gil’s neck, and it was weird – letting someone this close to him that wasn’t Uma or Harry or even Jay, and as much as Gil trusted Doug, trusted him like the rudder on a ship, it was odd to see him so close, looking uncertain when just about everything Doug did was handled with confidence.

“There,” he said eventually, stepping back to admire his work. “You’re ready.”

“Then let’s get this ball on the _roll_.” Gil plastered on a grin, trying to swallow his nerves and likely failing miserably. “Jane, would you do us the honors?”

Jane perked up at the implication, then ducked her head. “Um… yes. Yes, I will.”

With that, both of them offered her an arm which she took graciously, her smile spreading wide and bright. None of them may know what to do at an actual ball, but at least they’d look good. 

As one, they started down the hallway, never looking back.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Of course, Ben managed to intercept them before they even made it to the public hallways, and all of them pretended to not hear the others’ simultaneous sighs of relief.

“Hey, guys.” Ben was in full royal prince mode, his hands tucked behind his back, shoulders squared and head held high, because otherwise Gil was pretty sure he’d be gushing over Jane’s dress, or the snappy flare of Doug’s bowtie. “I’m glad you were able to make it. Would you please follow me?”

Compared to the rest of them, Ben’s suit was – well, of course very snappy – but not nearly as flashy. His pants were a blue and white sort of plaid that came with a matching vest, double-breasted with white, shiny buttons. His shirt was white, but his coat and tie were the strong blue of Auradon. His mask was entirely gold, and flared up at the sides like the wings of an eagle, wrought from metal so delicate Doug could probably lose an evening studying it. 

“Most of the guests have already made it, so we should be able to get in without anyone noticing.”

If people were able to ignore Jane’s Cinderella fantasy Gil would applaud them, but he understood Ben’s inability to recognize the situation he had created with their outfits. Dressed like this, it would be easy to pass for royalty – _attractive_ royalty – and only the minor hindrance of the masquerade part of the ball would keep people from falling all over themselves to get to Jane and Doug. 

Fortunately, Gil was there to take care of them. And not eat. Eating was not going to happen in this suit. 

They drew to a stop near a set of double doors, and Gil could hear the hustle and bustle of people beyond them. 

Ben cleared his throat. “Jane,” he said carefully, like he was about to make some kind of royal proclamation. “May I escort you in?”

“I-” Pink lips pinched together, but still, Jane moved forward, gracefully accepting Ben’s arm. “Yes. Okay.”

“Doug?” Gil offered his elbow to the other teen, the suggestive wag of his brows lost behind the mask. “May I escort _you_ in?”

“Only because you asked first,” Doug laughed. “Otherwise it’d be the other way around.”

“Promise?” Gil winked, and that wasn’t lost behind the mask.

Ben cleared his throat again. “This way.”

-:-:-:-:-:-

Gil managed to forget that he hadn’t attended a ball since Jay’s disastrous hero celebration up until the moment they entered the ballroom, and at that point it took everything he had to keep the smile on his face nice and relaxed. His chest felt tight, but Doug’s arm was a grounding presence, not unlike Harry’s when Gil had to face down Gaston out in the markets. 

No one here knew him, though. He wasn’t a hero and there weren’t going to be any announcements. He was just another fly on the wall who seemed really jazzed about the color white, and _that_ was the reason people were staring at them – that or Ben and Jane’s power couple walk, because they looked so pretty it kind of hurt.

“So much for nobody noticing,” Doug murmured, his smile seeming a little forced as he shrunk close to Gil. “Maybe we should have given them a five-minute head start.”

“It’ll be fine.” Gil had to believe that or else he was going to lose it and Ben didn’t deserve to be seen with crazy people who sprinted out into the gardens like their shoes were on fire. “People are already dancing. Look, there’s Queen Belle.”

And also King Adam, but honestly, Gil liked the queen more (sometimes he was afraid that was something Gaston had engrained in him, but then he had to remind himself how Ben looked like her when he laughed and how he loved books and how so much of the prince was attributed to this wonderful lady). The queen was modeling an updated version of her wedding gown – gold gathered tiers that would have made Evie shiver with envy that was finished with a matching gold mask. She caught their eye after scanning her son and Jane and offered them a small wave that Gil eagerly returned. He wasn’t sure if that was polite or not, but honestly, who cared.

He didn’t realize until he was pulling his hand down that the interaction had only made people _more_ interested in them, and it was with a swallow that Gil tugged Doug deeper into the crowds, following in Ben and Jane’s wake.

“Do you remember where all the trap doors are?” Gil whispered, offering a bright grin to anyone who looked their way. Which was a lot.

“Yeah.” Doug nodded.

“Tell me about them.”

“But you know-”

“I forgot,” Gil lied. “Tell me about them.”

By the time Ben had settled them into a comfortable space between two pillars, Doug seemed to have relaxed. Recounting the information had done a lot to calm his nerves because it was something he knew, and Gil nodded along at the appropriate moments, even though this was actually something he remembered perfectly.

“Thanks,” Doug murmured when they settled in. 

Gil didn’t feign confusion, choosing to squeeze his arm instead. It was the little things.

Jane drifted closer to them. “They’re staring at us.”

“Because we’re very good looking,” Gil decided. “Or because of Ben.”

“It’s the first option,” Ben assured. “Sorry guys, I didn’t think I’d draw all this focus to you.”

“Because you underestimated how good looking we are,” Doug deadpanned, getting back to his normal state of wit.

“No.” Ben ducked his head, then straightened when he realized how un-princely it was. “That’s not something I could underestimate, I think.”

_Awwww_ , Ben was so nice. Gil understood why he’d freaked Mal out at first.

The music – which was being performed by a live band of fancy string instruments – shifted into a familiar beat, the rising and falling of a consistent crescendo until Gil realized it was that same dance he and Jay had learned in Auroria, when Princess Audrey had gotten bored and decided to drag her ‘community service’ into the dancehall.

Gil wasn’t sure how he felt about Princess Audrey, but she’d squeezed his arms a lot until Jay had started demanding more of her attention, because despite being a natural at everything else in the world, he seemed to struggle with waltzing. It had been a weird, but somewhat ego-boosting afternoon for Gil, who’d finally been slightly better at something for once.

“Hey, I know this one!” Gil’s gaze scanned over the crowd and yes- it was the same dance, a familiar 1-2-3, 1-2-3 that had the couples spinning in lazy circles. “Would anyone like to dance?”

“Um.” Jane and Doug both looked panicked, which – right, they were book people, Gil should have thought of that.

“Never mind,” he rushed to say. “I think I see the snack table just over-”

“I’ll dance with you.” Ben seemed so certain when he said it, even though Gil knew it was a pity move. Still, his smile was kind, and he held out a hand to Gil as though he would lead him to the dancefloor. Which, Gil realized with a flush, he was actually going to do.

“Jane?” Doug asked, holding out his arm. “May I have this dance?”

“I think that’d be nice,” she decided, and then the four of them were on the move, crowds of glittering people parting just for them.

“You can lead,” Gil said as they got settled. After the first lesson in Auroria he had taken to learning both sides of the dance, because Audrey had been a firm taskmaster that had gotten fed up with his ‘pitiful attempts at leading’ and taken over the operation herself.

Learning both sides gave Gil the opportunity to dance with Jay at the formal functions Ben sent them to, which probably wasn’t the point but Gil had exactly one guaranteed friend at all those things and he was going to stick with him as much as possible.

Ben took it all in stride, didn’t so much as blink when he pulled Gil close to him, then set them off around the dancefloor. 

It was fun – it had always been fun, but before it had been fun in the way that most people were still wary around VKs and dancing seemed to make people warm up to them. Like if they were capable of having fun, of mastering harmless things, then maybe they weren’t really all that rotten after all. 

Here, no one knew him as the son of Gaston, and the stares they earned were different and intense and Gil blocked them out because Ben seemed happy and so perfectly regal it hurt. It was like Gil was the only person in the room, the only one that mattered, and it filled him with a warmth he had stifle ruthlessly, like throwing water on a roaring fire, because there was so little place for it.

The dance ended too soon, with Ben breaking off in a gentle bow that Gil remembered to copy, his throat feeling tight and warm all at once.

“Excuse me.” A girl with a head of fierce red curls down to her waist drew near to them, her voice accented like Harry’s. “May I have this dance?”

“Sure.” Gil stepped away, “Of course, I’ll just let you guys-”

“Och,” she tutted. “I meant with ye, mate.”

Gil felt himself flush down to his toes. “Oh- sure! Right.”

Beside them, Ben was grinning embarrassingly wide. “I’ll leave you guys to it, then.”

He was reveling in this; Gil just knew he was.

“So uh-” Gil cleared his throat. “Do you want to lead, or shall I?”

The redhead perked up. “I think I’d like to lead.”

Gil smiled. “I thought you’d might.”

He spent that dance offering the princess (Merida’s daughter of equally terrifying determination) pointers on how best to lead, coaching her through the trickier bits until _she_ was the one bowing at the end, Gil offering her an exaggerated courtesy.

“Now you can ask another lady to dance,” he huffed, grin widening under her giddy little giggle. “Like Jane. See-” He motioned towards where Jane and Doug were taking a break on the side of the dancefloor. “She’s very shy but also super nice and I’m biased but you’d like her.”

She gave him a grin that was more feral than polite, reminiscent of Harry, and Gil ached all over again. “I think ye might be on to somethin’ there, mucker.” And with that, she disappeared into the crowd, Gil wondering if what he had just done was a good or bad thing.

He was still standing there when the music changed, and this time he recognized the melody faster, a speedier rhythm tugging at his heels. “Hey, a polka!”

“You know how to polka?” A smaller redhead seemed to almost materialize next to Gil, clad in gown familiar to Arendelle, the skirt a culmination of many different sections.

“Yeah, it’s fun.” Gil had to look down because she was at least a head shorter than him – probably younger by a few years, too. But she seemed happy and free, which made her instantly likeable. “I mean, it’s not as fun as the stompy dance-”

“I _love_ the stompy dance!” She was practically vibrating in place in an effort to contain her excitement, which Gil related to on a personal level. “Do you want to polka with me?”

“Heck yes, I do.” Gil made a move to initiate the little bow thing that seemed mandatory before all dances but was immediately whisked away when the redhead latched onto his hands and started whirling them around the ballroom. It only took Gil a few seconds to keep up, and before long they were both gasping and laughing. 

“This is so fun!” she cheered when Gil guided her through a couple spins. “Usually no one else knows how to polka and I get stuck with my dad because my brother is dumb and hates dancing. I mean- Prince Ben knows how to polka, but he always ends up with my mom anyway, which makes my dad all pouty and the _worst dance partner ever_ but you’re so good!”

“Thank you!” Gil couldn’t agree more, this was fun. “I had a good teacher.”

They hadn’t been to Arendelle yet, but it shared a lot of cultural similarities to Hanover. Evie and Doug had actually taught Gil how to polka at the post fashion show reception, the event taking a more traditional turn that hadn’t seemed expected but was definitely a lot of fun. 

“Well, I’m claiming you for the next polka,” she decided when the music finally drew to a halt. “You’re awesome.”

“Is he now?” It took Gil a few seconds to place the voice because he hadn’t had much contact with Chad Charming – most of his understanding of the guy came from Harry and Carlos’ complaining, though Ben seemed to like him. Or, claimed he was ‘harmless enough’. _This_ Chad, though, was dressed to the nines in a light blue suit, a regal cape settled on his shoulders that managed to look as charming as his namesake instead of horribly stupid. “I’d like to see that for myself.”

The small princess (Gil really needed to start learning names) scrunched her nose. “If that’s how you ask people to dance you really need to work on it.” She turned to Gil as Chad tried to swallow down some sputters. “I’ll see you for the next polka, okay? And don’t get dragged out by my brother because that means he’s a hypocrite and I have _dibs_.”

“I don’t know who your brother is, but I’ll try,” Gil offered, earning another giggle. She left them with a twirl of her skirt, happily skipping into the crowd. The music changed back to a waltz, which Gil was fine with, because it gave him a chance to catch his breath after all that vigorous polka-ing. “So did you actually want to dance or were you just being nosy?”

“I- what? The first option,” Chad eventually settled on.

Gil shrugged. “Cool. I’ll follow.”

For whatever reason, that seemed to give Chad some of his confidence back, his chest puffing up as he took Gil into his arms. Gil attempted to find something wrong with his form, he really did, he felt like he owed it to Harry and Carlos to at least _try_ , but Chad’s waltzing game was strong, and he managed to effortlessly weave them through the crowds as though they were dancing on air.

“You know,” he began when he had sufficiently gathered his bearings. “My parents met at a ball.”

“I think everyone knows that.” Even Gil knew that, and he grew up on the Isle, where the villains hated the heroes’ side of the story. “Wait, was that a pickup line? She was totally right man; you need to work on those.”

“What?” Under his mask, Chad’s cheeks got all red. He was still unfairly attractive though. _Ugh_. “What is wrong with you? I’m very charming.”

“Charming people don’t usually have to explain their charming…ness.” He was pretty sure that was one of the rules. “But you are super good looking, if that makes you feel better. Like, ten out of ten.”

Chad pressed his lips together as he mulled that over. “Yeah, that does make me feel better.” His confidence returned. “It’s even nicer when the compliment is given from an exquisite creature such as yourself.”

“See, _that’s_ charming.” Gil should become a life coach, or something. 

Chad deflated again. “I suppose you get told that all the time.”

“Oh…” Gil felt his cheeks get hot. “No. Actually, you’re the first.”

“What?” Chad’s gaze narrowed behind his mask. “That’s impossible. Are you sure you haven’t been locked away by some evil step-family member?”

“I think I’d remember if I had.” Gil played off his shudder, the truth of it ringing too close to Gaston and possible-maybe kidnappings or whatever. “I’m definitely not gonna turn into a pumpkin at midnight.”

“The carriage turned into a pumpkin,” Chad said. His eyes got kind of hazy. “There were seeds _everywhere_.”

“Wow. That sounds…” Oh, who was Gil kidding, he didn’t know how to end that sentence. “Good for the environment?”

“But bad for the hair,” Chad huffed. This was… quite a ride they were going on. He blinked, and Gil could see his focus shifting, certainly _felt_ it when Chad drew him closer, angled his mouth inches from Gil’s ear. “Do you mean to say that no one has ever called you ravishing? That your eyes sparkle like the finest jewels, that your lips…” His gaze fell to them purposefully, and Gil could _feel_ his hunger. “You are grace incarnate. _Light_ incarnate, shining and brilliant for all to see.”

Gil shuddered, couldn’t fight it because Chad seemed so – _intense_ – and it was weird, because Carlos hated him so much, Jay dismissing him as harmless but he was so pretty and for whatever reason he thought Gil was pretty too, and the guy was shallow enough that he probably meant it. 

Chad’s voice dropped to a low caress. “Where has our good prince been hiding you?”

“In his room, mostly,” Gil replied because he was flustered, which only got worse when he realized _what_ he’d said exactly.

Chad laughed. It was a sexy laugh. Almost like Jay or Harry’s sexy laugh. _Ughhhhhh_. “I’d like to hide you in my room,” he said, and _that_ was too genuine to ever sound possibly corny. 

What the hell, Chad wanted to jump his bones.

Because he didn’t know. He didn’t know _anything_.

“Hello, Chad!” Jane appeared beside them as the dance drew to a close like some kind of radiant super hero. “Let’s Bibbidi Bobbidi dance!”

“What?” Chad frowned. “Who are-?”

With uncharacteristic force (at least, uncharacteristic for _this_ Jane), the young fairy dragged Chad off onto the dancefloor, leaving Gil flustered and alone. This lasted for all of two seconds before Doug appeared by his side, gripping his elbow gently.

“Are you okay?”

“Never um… better.” Gil managed a smile even though he still felt shaken up inside. It was like the few times Ben had given him a _‘reward’_ for doing a good job, showering Gil with compliments that made his bones turn to jelly. Gil hadn’t expected it from anyone else, and it left him at a loss. “Dance with me?”

Doug drew him into his arms with an amount of care that made the skittish feeling in Gil’s chest grow tenfold, like he was a delicate thing, that he needed to be handled gently. “I’d be honored.”

Gil took their dance to settle into his skin, listening to Doug recount the number of envious royals who had stared after Jane and Ben’s own difficulties being dragged around the floor by an enthusiastic Princess Anna, Queen Elsa deciding to join them for once with Prince Kristoff staring at their feet. 

By the time their dance was over Gil’s heart had steadied again, and he wanted to ask Doug for another if he could spare it, even though such things were reserved for Evie or Jay, even if the other teen didn’t know it yet.

So Gil considered it fortunate when the tune shifted into something entirely unique, an upbeat rhythm from the city of Agrabah. “Oh hey, it’s the-” He shifted his palms face up like he was holding a tray and started pumping his arms intermittently. “Do you know this one?”

“Can’t say I do,” Doug admitted, offering a sorry grin. “I’ve done more dancing in the past thirty minutes than I have my whole life.”

“You know our dance?” The new voice interrupted before Gil could reply, and he turned to find himself greeted with what had to be Agrabah’s princess, decked in pinks and oranges and jewelry that jangled with each step.

“Yeah, it’s fun.” It had been difficult to learn, but once Gil caught the hang of it, he and Jay had danced for hours. “Hard, but fun.”

A smile broke out across her face. “As most good things are. May I have this dance?”

Gil turned to Doug, but the other teen waved him off. “Go, I’ll watch.” 

“In that case…” He bowed to the princess. “I would be delighted.”

He noticed this time that there were less people on the dancefloor now that the music had changed, though Gil wasn’t surprised. The dances of Agrabah were intricate and didn’t have a tendency to repeat, which meant you had to be really familiar with them to successfully make it through a song. 

The princess was an excellent partner, and it was nice to have a dance that didn’t require as much contact. Agrabah dances mostly involved moving around each other in pretty patterns, which gave Gil some breathing room as he focused on the hand movements.

“You’re quite good,” the princess said as they passed each other. “Where did you study?”

“I uh- learned it from a friend,” Gil admitted. “To help pass the time.” And to keep him from going insane – Jay had been worried about their Agrabah visit, even if that worry seemed entirely unwarranted in the end.

“Do you learn many dances to ‘pass the time’?” The princess quirked a brow at him. “You seem very well versed.”

Gil blushed. “Dancing’s fun, and universal. Even if you don’t speak the same language, people can connect to each other through dance. Same goes for music.”

“Spoken like a true gentleman of the court,” the princess mused.

“I’m not nearly that important.” Panic hummed in his stomach at the thought of it. “I just- travel a lot.”

“And what do you see?” It seemed like a genuine question, not a coy tease like Gil would have expected. “In your travels.”

“Plants, mostly.” Greenery, beautiful and thriving and _alive_. “Trees and flowers. I’ve been lucky enough to experience many different cultures, but it’s nice to know that at the base of it we all want the same things.”

“And what is that?”

“You know.” Gil shrugged. “Just- our own little corner of the earth with the people we care about. A purpose to work towards and the means to live in peace.” Food and shelter. Security and love. “Little things.”

“Not fortune?” She asked. “Or fame? Power?”

“There’s no point to those if you don’t have anyone to share them with.” It’d be a hollow victory in the end, because all the power in the world couldn’t buy you love, and no one was strong enough to forge on without someone who genuinely cared for them. It was why, Gil suspected, so many villains seemed irreparably broken. “I mean if you have them, great, but like- use them responsibly.”

“You’re pretty wise for a traveler,” she hummed. “Well dressed, too.”

“Not my handiwork, I assure you,” Gil laughed. “This is the last color I would have picked. There are so many snacks I cannot eat.”

This startled a laugh from the princess. “I know what you mean. I feel like I can never eat at these things. We always end up feasting on late night snacks in the kitchen when we get home.”

“Midnight only makes cookies taste better,” Gil offered sagely. “And you can quote me on that.”

“So I shall, wise traveler.” She grinned, curtsying as the music started to fade. “And whose name shall I be quoting?”

Gil did not freak out. “Someone very mysterious, I’m sure.”

And with that, he turned to find another partner. Who was standing nose-to-nose with him. Or, nose-to-chest.

“Me again!” The Arendelle princess chirped. “I requested another polka. Get your dancing shoes ready.”

“Excuse _you_ ,” Gil laughed. “They stayed ready to keep from _getting_ ready.”

“ _Ugh_ ,” the small princess cried as though his words physically pained her. “Who are you, my dad? Wait, don’t answer that.” She grabbed his hands. “Just start dancing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update and slow responses! Things got pretty crazy this weekend and I just got back to my computer. Definitely missed you guys, and am forever grateful for your support! Thanks so much for the lovely feedback, it was a wonderful gift to come back to!! :D
> 
> Story notes:
> 
> Real talk, Jane probably doesn’t have enough hair for a side French braid but I exercised some creative liberties for aesthetic purposes.
> 
> For now and forever, anytime Doug wants to do something, he will gladly use the excuse of science ;)
> 
> The colors of Flynn Rider, according to the Tangled animated series, are white and gold. Thus, shoving Gil in gold and white felt appropriate and was totally planned and not at all an accidental happenstance I get to play off as Ben being a booknerd ;D
> 
> This was also my first take at Chad, which heavily relied on his canon version and not any of the ones I made to make him more tolerable. Yes, it pains me too. 
> 
> Look at me being all creative and not naming any of the random royal children that popped up in this chapter. This was before I threw in the towel and named the lot of them during ‘Practice Makes Perfect Mistakes’. In this version, Fairuza and Aziz are fraternal twins, so they’re the same age instead of Fairuza being younger than him, which is how I usually have her. 
> 
> The Agrabah dance I legit took straight from the new movie.
> 
> Until next time ^_^


	11. A Line Between

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GENERAL WARNING – Low Self-Esteem. I know it’s somewhat of a constant presence in this story, but it especially flares up this chapter. 
> 
> WARNING – Breakdown – Gil has an emotional breakdown in the second scene that covers some of his past abuse, see endnotes for more details. 
> 
> GENERAL WARNING – Referenced abortions. Brief references to theoretical abortions in the third scene. Again, it is nothing graphic, just part of a conversation that covers the current status of the Isle. It’s like a sentence, but I didn’t want anyone to get caught off guard.

Gil never really got a break. After the polka was an Atlantian group dance that involved linking together in a long chain and a lot of hopping (Gil was sad that Jay missed it because he loved all the Atlantian dances, anything that required a lot of cardio was a win in his book). He somehow got wrangled into swing dancing with the heir to Maldonia, the young prince letting out a cheerful cry when he realized Gil could do lifts, and then it became a competition to see how many times he could swing his dance partner upside down before King Adam had an aneurism. The answer was four. 

Music from Atlantica had been played out of what was probably politeness because those dances didn’t translate well on dry land, but Gil and Queen Ariel gave it their best shot anyway, inadvertently leading an impromptu class on the finer arts of ocean dancing (which Gil really wasn’t that good at, but the queen gave him points for enthusiasm, which he appreciated). 

He finally got to rest with a slow dance, Jane appearing out of the nether of people to shyly request a swing around the floor – as though she even had to ask, and Gil got to cradle her against his chest, feeling more grounded than he had since he’d first put on his flashy suit. 

He left the dancefloor when music from Corona began to play, Jane dragged into the mess by Marsaili _(_ that was the name of Merida’s daughter), pretending he didn’t see the few individuals who were waving for his attention, beckoning him to join. He slid out onto the balcony as soon as he got the chance, desperate for a breather, for a chance to be alone. Dancing was fun but the crowds were beginning to get to him. He’d been trained by the Isle for too long to ever really like them, and before he’d had Jay to watch his back. Here, he had Ben and Doug and Jane, but they didn’t know about the world’s cruelties, and were fortunate enough that they didn’t always have to be on alert. 

It wasn’t _bad_ ; it just made some things harder. So Gil wasn’t ashamed when he tucked himself into the shadows and leaned against the balcony, staring out onto the sea. 

The barrier that surrounded the Isle of the Lost looked just as sinister as it always did, though that night it seemed especially prominent, standing out against the evening sky despite its murky essence, unapologetically bold. It seemed almost spiteful in its nature, the very last rebellion the villains could offer to the rest of the world, and Gil ached to see it. Uma was out there. Uma and Harry and the rest of the crew were scrambling to survive while Gil danced in garments that cost more than he could ever earn, rubbing elbows with royalty and pretending everything was okay. Granted, his past self was out there too also fighting to stay alive, but Gil still felt guilty. 

It was stupid though, like him. The barrier was going to come down. They were going to get out. It just hadn’t happened yet. 

“You don’t have to be scared of them.” Ben strolled out of the shadows as though it were second nature, as though crown princes were just as accustomed to stealth as they were riding in parades. “The barrier will hold.” 

“I’m not scared of them,” Gil said as Ben settled in beside him, both hands resting on the railing. “At least, I’m not scared of most of them. I’m sad.”

“Sad?” Ben’s brows furrowed. “Why?”

Gil had to look away. “For the children,” he admitted. “They’ve done nothing wrong, but they’re trapped there.” Trapped and furious at their helplessness. “It’s worth being sad about.”

“You’re wasting tears on villain kids?” Chad broke into the conversation as if he’d always been there, Gil’s multitude of dance partners and a few other young royals following after him, flooding the balcony. “You shouldn’t bother, they wouldn’t cry for you.”

Gil had to keep himself from tensing. “Those kids had no more choice in who they were born to than you had in being a prince,” he said, and he could see Chad struggle through the accusation, but beside him Fairuza – the princess of Agrabah – got a thoughtful look. “As in, they didn’t.”

“Do you think the Isle is a mistake?” Fairuza asked – a gentle probe in an effort to get a feel for the situation, just like when they were dancing.

Gil could feel the weight of their stares on him. He chose his words carefully, doing his best to quote Evie’s arguments, because she made everything seem so reasonable.

“I think the Isle was a well-intended measure of defense that was better in conception than it is in execution.” A few of the kids’ eyes flew wide at the statement, Chad rapidly blinking, as though he were trying to start the conversation over, but they all stayed silent. “At least, as far as the kids are concerned. The ultimate goal of incarceration _should_ be rehabilitation, but instead we shoved a bunch of villains onto a small area of land and allowed them to run free because they weren’t our problem anymore. Which is…” Horrible, really horrible. “Which _leads_ to them preying on the petty criminals sent over from smaller kingdoms, which leads to children being raised by murderers and kidnappers. I mean-” Gil swallowed, trying to remember the thread of Evie’s argument, of Mal’s. “Parental rights are important, but those people-” He motioned towards the Isle. “They’re citizens of Auradon too. The kids are citizens who have committed no crimes, but we leave them on the Isle because for whatever reason we think genocidal maniacs deserve to have their parental rights respected. It doesn’t make sense.”

“They’re the ones that chose to have kids,” Chad pointed out. “They wouldn’t have had them if they didn’t want them, right?”

“They love them,” one of the Atlantian heirs pressed. “They have to. It would be cruel to separate them.”

Gil tried very hard not to frown. To shake. 

Somehow, he managed to look at Chad. “Did Lady Tremaine love your mother?” The prince didn’t respond, clearly taken off guard. “Mother Gothel-” He said her name and he didn’t choke on it. “-raised Queen Rapunzel for eighteen years, but even then, she had no love for her. I…” He turned to Ben, focused only on him, on the prince, who seemed so lost and very confused. “Do you think Gaston would love his children? He supposedly loved your mother, but he tried to hurt her anyway. I-” Gil let out a shuddery breath. “I’m not saying all villains are past the point of redemption, but maybe we should consider the severity of their crimes, consider their psychological profiles and then maybe just – _not_ leave helpless children with them, depending on the results. Children who don’t know better, because they have no reference for the outside world. For how things are supposed to be.”

There was a pointed moment of silence, Anna’s daughter fiddling with her skirt while the Maldonian prince frowned, sharing quiet whispers with some kids from the Imperial City. 

“It can’t be that bad,” Chad pressed, struggling for some kind of defense. “We send them supplies.”

“We send them leftovers,” Gil corrected. “Things that couldn’t be of use here so they get sent where we don’t have to see them anymore. The Isle is basically Auradon’s garbage dump.”

“That’s not true,” Ben said, but his brows were furrowed because he didn’t know that for sure, like Gil did. “We wouldn’t do that.”

Gil sighed. His chest felt tight and unhappy again, and the feeling got worse when he noticed Doug and Jane hanging out on the outskirts of the group that had gathered on the balcony.

“No one cares about villains, Ben,” Gil said it quietly, but the others maintained such a strong silence that the words carried. “And I’m not saying that we should, but their kids…” He frowned. “They deserve a chance and no one’s giving them one. They’re going to live and die on the island and for what? What crime did they commit other than being born to their parents?”

“What are you saying?” Chad sputtered, charging in close. “That we should let those villain kids, what, _off_ the Isle? Set them free to wreck Auradon?!”

“Those kids have been struggling to survive all their lives.” Gil kept his tone even because grace in the wake of adversity was Evie’s way of proving her superiority. “It wouldn’t be an easy transition because they’ve been doing what they had to in order to get by – but _should_ they be allowed off the Isle? Absolutely.” This instigated an immediate commotion, but Gil talked over it. “They deserve the chance. They should have the choice to be good, instead of having the odds stacked against them and the rest of us being surprised when they don’t know what good _is_.”

“You’re a lunatic,” Chad declared. “No wonder Ben kept you hidden away; I would have too.”

Even taken off guard as he was, Ben’s response was immediate and protective, sliding in front of Gil with an easy sort of grace. “That’s enough, Chad.”

“Do you hear what he’s saying?” Chad pressed. “It’s treason! He’s talking about your dad-”

“No one is without faults,” Ben began to say, but others were talking now, one on top of the other, and they were drawing in to state their arguments, because it couldn’t be that bad and who the hell was Gil, anyway? What did he _know_?

Gil should stay and clean the mess he had created, but he felt raw and broken inside, shaken from how badly he wanted to scream that he knew, of course he _knew_ , who the hell else would know better about Cruella De Ville using her son as a slave or Jay sleeping on a pile of carpets after being forced to steal all day or Evie being held up to ideals of perfection and being punished for falling short. For children who wanted so much to be loved that they gave up part of themselves – their will to read or their will to explore the ocean instead of work in a Chip Shoppe or forcing a desire to get their hand bitten off by a crocodile because maybe _then_ their parents would look on them with something like affection. 

It wasn’t fair. _None_ of it was fair. 

So Gil stepped back into the shadows, ducking behind a large potted fern until he could slip over the edge of the balcony, landing in the gardens below.

-:-:-:-:-:-

He made use of the secret passages Doug had reviewed with him earlier, hand pressing hard against his heart as though it could keep it from fracturing in pieces. It wasn’t fair that people looked at Mal and saw her mother instead of a caring and devoted queen, it wasn’t fair that they saw her green eyes and thought dragon and not slender girls obsessed with strawberries, who waited outside of bushes for wayward friends that fell asleep in the mulch.

Tears were dripping down his face but Gil ignored them, because there was no Gaston here to yell at him to be a man. There was no rival pirate crew holding him hostage, laughing at his hope that Uma would come for him (she always did, but not after the blood and the pain). There were no roving gangs looking for an easy prey or hunters obsessed with their glory days ready to drag him by his seemingly indestructible hair. Gaston hated his hair; _Gil_ hated his hair. 

They all just hated. That was what the Isle was. 

He ended up in the library, tucked behind the couch where Queen Belle read to them. His knees were drawn close to his chest, face buried in the soft material of his pants as he tried to settle his breathing. He’d already secured his bandana back into its proper place on his head, but he kept the mask and hood on too because he wanted to hide, even though he knew they’d come for him soon. It would be the guards, he guessed. Maybe Gil should have saved them the work and just taken himself to the dungeon, but he wanted a few moments of normality before he was locked up again. It wasn’t something he deserved, but the Isle had trained him to take what he could get, to revel in these moments of happiness so he could ration them out later, when he really needed them.

It was hard to tell how much time had passed before he sensed someone walking into the reading nook, soft clicks on the wooden floor indicated heeled shoes, which meant Jane. He wondered if Ben was still stuck playing peacekeeper with his peers, of assuring them that Gil’s words held no value, that he was just a nobody. He wondered if Doug was hanging back in the doorway or if he was with Ben or if he had given up on them all because he had gone to the ball for science and had gotten far more than that. Gil wouldn’t blame him, if he decided to leave. If Jane decided to room with her mom because Gil broke everything, even people.

A hand settled on his shoulder, its grip sure but warm. And it was grounding for all of two seconds before Gil realized it couldn’t be Jane, because Jane would be shivering, now, wouldn’t be able to be this certain and would have made more noise sitting down, and if it wasn’t Jane-

Gil looked up slowly, peeking over the curve of his knees to see Queen Belle settled in beside him, her mask abandoned in her lap.

He tried not to sob. “I’m sorry,” he hissed around the lump in his throat. “I’m sorry I ruined your ball.” 

“You ruined nothing, Flynn.” Her voice was so soft and understanding and _why?_ Did she not know what Gil had done? Didn’t she realize what he’d said? “You introduced some new ideas, but they were things that needed to be said.” She was sure to hold his gaze while she explained this, her hand never falling from his shoulder. “I’m proud of you for saying them. That took a lot of bravery.”

At that point, Gil _did_ sob. “Please don’t think I’m good. Chad was- he was right, about that. I don’t know anything.”

Queen Belle’s hand, which had been rubbing small circles into the meat of Gil’s shoulder, stilled. “Is that what they told you back on the Isle?”

Gil couldn’t even be surprised, because Ben’s mom was smart. Crazy, smart. The prince had to have gotten it from somewhere. Maybe she had always known.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered again. “I’m sorry for what my dad- well-” Gil squeezed his eyes closed, dragging in a rough breath of air. “He’s not even really my dad but he claimed me and I- I’m sorry, for what he did. For-” Gil shrugged. “I’m sorry that I- I wanted to be just like him, because then-” It was getting hard to see through the tears. “T-Then he might- he might love me. And even though he- he’d hit me or lock me up or t-try to drown me in the t-tub I still- I wanted him to _love_ me.” Gil’s hands clutched hard at his knees, the pain grounding him enough to keep him from falling into a panic attack. “Because parents are supposed to love you. And if they don’t-” Gil sobbed. “There must be s-something _wrong_ with you.”

“Flynn.” Queen Belle had an arm wrapped around his shoulders, had him cradled against her side before he even realized it, her lips pressing against the hood of his jacket. “There is nothing wrong with you. Not a _single_ thing wrong that would make you unlovable.” She was rocking him now like a mom would, he guessed, like his Uncle LeFou had when Gaston hadn’t turned his rage on him too. “Gaston is a horrible man, and I’m sorry that you were ever left with him. That we turned a blind eye to his fatherhood.”

“To be fair,” Gil sniffed. “He does like Junior and Trois. But um- they are his, so I guess that makes sense.”

“I’m glad you’re not,” Queen Belle said, and she- she meant it, was the thing. “I’m so glad you’re _you_ , Flynn. You don’t need to be any other way.”

“I uh…” Didn’t know what to say. “They don’t know, about. I haven’t told them.”

“And I won’t either,” Queen Belle promised, like it was- like she could do that, even though Gil had confessed to being a traitor. “This is ours, but Flynn…” She urged him to look at her with gentle nudges, and when he did, he could see the tears in her eyes, the ones she had managed to stifle just to keep a level head. For _him_. “My son, Jane and Douglass – they like you just as you are too. Don’t hide from them.” Her hand traced the edge of his bandana. “You’d be surprised what could happen, if you gave them a chance.”

“Is this your way of telling me to go back to the room?” Gil asked, trying to clear tear tracks from his cheeks with his palm. It didn’t really work, but he had to give it a shot. 

“You don’t have to go anywhere you don’t want to.” It was a promise, and not one given lightly. “We can stay here as long as you need.”

“But-”

“I am _exactly_ where I’m needed,” she interrupted, anticipating his protest. “There’s not a queenly duty more important than this right here.”

“T-Thank you,” Gil whispered, leaning into her hold. She didn’t shirk away from him, didn’t flinch because her comfort wasn’t conditional. She hummed a quiet tune instead, rocking Gil gently. “I’m glad you’re Ben’s mom.”

“And I’m glad Ben met you.”

It wasn’t even a lie.

This time, when tears burned in his eyes, they were derived from happiness. 

-:-:-:-:-:-

The secret passage that went from the library to Ben’s room didn’t actually have a slide, but Gil was okay with that, using the flashlight Queen Belle had pressed into his hands to guide him to the back of Ben’s bookcase. He shouldered it open, hoping the lingering dust wouldn’t cling to the special-made suit as he made his way into the safety of the prince’s room. He should pack a bag or something. Gil could hide out in the passageways until morning, then ask Cogsworth for the room he was originally supposed to get. 

He would have been out of Ben’s hair in ten minutes tops, but fate immediately threw a wrench into his plan when he realized Jane and Doug were already there, waiting for him.

Jane was curled up on one of the couches, distractedly flipping through Gil’s sketchbook. She had abandoned most of her accessories on a nearby table, but her hair was still twisted back in Gil’s neat braid, save for a few stray tendrils that seemed to be trying to escape that framed her face. 

Doug had been pacing the length of the room, some kind of ledger held in one hand while the other combed through his hair. His mask and jacket had been abandoned and his bowtie was undone, leaving it to precariously dangle from his neck as he made his loop. Both of them stopped what they were doing when Gil slid into the room, and both of them immediately abandoned their books in favor of bolting to Gil, as though they were afraid he was going to run away again. 

Which, to be fair, had sort of been the plan.

“ _Flynn!_ ” Jane latched onto his right arm and Doug took the other, both of them seeming desperate to hold onto him to make sure he was really there. “Forget what Chad said,” Jane urged. “He’s-”

“Stupid,” Doug hissed, his voice dripping like venom. “You’re not crazy and you’re _definitely_ not just a pretty face-”

“He still said I was pretty?” Was what Gil’s mind decided to latch onto, because dread was building in his chest again.

“He said a lot of things,” Doug snapped. “Most of them moronic and slanderous.” 

“Ben yelled at him,” Jane offered, tone quiet but insistent. “Well, Ben dressed him down, but you could _tell_ he wanted to yell at him which normally doesn’t happen so everyone was pretty worked up about that.”

“Ben,” Gil said, beginning to feel panicked. There it was, his old friend, clawing at his throat. “Is he-”

“Yelling at his dad,” Doug said. “ _Actually_ yelling.”

“The thing you said about the Isle getting our leftovers…” Jane took her bottom lip between her teeth, worrying at it as she urged Gil towards the couch. “That’s all true. Doug pulled the records-”

“The ones available to the public.” Doug muttered. “There’s not much because they didn’t expect anyone to care, but it confirms that the Isle basically lives off of charity donations and what items Auradon markets cannot sell.”

“There’s barely any records of medicine going over,” Jane said. “Vitamins. Water purification equipment. It’s just whatever we end up sending them.”

Everything loaded up onto barges that landed on the Isle twice a month. Barge days were a war, and if you didn’t have a crew to help gather supplies you were almost guaranteed to starve. The only people who purposefully avoided the barges were the ones who knew they could steal what they needed later, who could mark it up at a higher price to scalp those who were too weak or scared to brave the horrors of distribution day. 

“We don’t think about the Isle,” Doug said as they settled onto the couch, Gil cushioned between them. “You were right about that. None of us did. I just- I didn’t think-”

“They just run free there?” Jane pressed in, her thin brows scrunched with worry. “There’s no restrictions besides the barrier? They can just hurt whoever’s inside?”

Gil shrugged, forcing a nonchalance so carefully that it pained him. “That’s the way the Isle was designed.” 

“But those kids-” Doug leaned into him, one hand braced on Gil’s shoulder. “You said they had kids. Would they have really gone through the trouble of raising them if they didn’t want them?”

“Without medical care, _theoretically-_ ” Uma was the one who taught Gil the power of that word, that helped him build up his conversational arsenal so he could be respected. “-it would be more dangerous to terminate a pregnancy than to keep it to um… term. That’s probably why they had kids. The magic from the barrier would keep them alive for the first few years no matter what anyone did, so…” He had to purposefully not look at them. “By that point they probably liked the idea of having a legacy. Even if that legacy was trapped on the Isle.”

“They left them there without any kind of supervision so they could…” Doug scowled. “It’s just villains making more villains.”

Gil flinched, trying to ignore Jane’s muffled gasp. “They’re not-”

“Sorry.” Doug was rubbing his arm now. “That came out wrong. I meant- you were right about how if they didn’t have any way of knowing what was _good_ , then of course their kids would follow in their footsteps. It’s all they know. I’m not-”

“He means,” Jane interrupted, clutching Gil’s arm carefully. “That they’re not predisposed to evil. That’s not what he was saying.”

“Right.” Doug nodded. “They’re just kids. Like us but less lucky.”

“It’s horrible,” Jane sighed. Her grip had gotten less demanding and more gentle, a soft reminder of her presence that didn’t hurt. “And we didn’t even know…”

Whatever she was going to say got cut off by the twin doors to Ben’s room flying open, slamming against the wall with a resounding _crash_ that had all of them jumping, eyes widening at the sight of Ben stalking into the room and tossing his mask to the side with a careless _growl_ , his jacket following seconds later.

“I can’t believe this!” he snapped, tugging at his hair. “I feel so _stupid_ just blindly trusting my dad, trusting the council to have put together a functioning incarceration system, but there are so many _flaws-_ ” He paused upon seeing the three of them, and immediately his expression of anger melted away into one of regret and sorrow.

An apology lodged in Gil’s throat, words cascading over each other until his tongue was unable to determine which should go first, but in that time Ben crossed the room, falling to his knees before the three of them, one hand bracing itself on Gil’s thigh.

“ _Flynn_ ,” he gasped, and this was it, this was- he was going to start crying now and Gil was going to have to leave. “I’m so sorry. I- you took me by surprise and then Chad-” He shook his head. “It’s not an excuse, but I should have stepped in sooner. Shouldn’t have let them make you feel like you had to run away. I’m sorry. I’m so _sorry_.”

“What?” Gil didn’t know what to do with his hands, felt comforted and cared for by the contact each of them shared with him but overwhelmed all at once because of the attention. “I’m the one who talked about such ugly stuff during a celebration. It was my fault. I-” He swallowed. “I didn’t even know they’d be on that balcony. If I had, I would have gone somewhere else.”

“I don’t think that would have helped.” Ben seemed to solve Gil’s hand problem by taking them in his own. “They were there because that’s where _you_ were. You uh… left an impression.”

Gil shuddered. “I wish it had been a good one.”

“What did we say about listening to Chad?” Jane spoke up, seeming more authoritative than before. “Don’t do it. He’s stupid.”

“And he certainly didn’t speak for everyone,” Ben pressed, a smile tugging at his lips. “You started quite the conversation. A good one, though. I know Princess Fairuza appreciated the opportunity for an ethics debate. Kennet – Princess Anna’s son, did too, and his sister Princess Agot wasn’t quiet about speaking in your defense. Neither was Marsaili or Aziz, and you didn’t even meet the prince of Agrabah.”

“I…” Gil didn’t know what to say. He had expected Ben to be angry and he was, but not at Gil. “I thought you’d be um… upset with me.”

“Flynn,” Ben was leaning forward now, his eyes shining with a painful kind of honesty. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You surprised me but this shouldn’t have because I- _we_ know how big your heart is. Of course you’d care about people on the Isle, you’re too kind not to.”

Gil took in a shaky breath. “Don’t…”

“Flynn.” Jane had a hand wrapped around his shoulders now, and Doug did too, seemed just as determined to settle in close like the others. “Don’t sell yourself short.”

“Because we haven’t,” Doug added. “And we won’t.”

“Not ever,” Ben promised, smile spreading wide. “Flynn… do you- I know you’re not supposed to talk about it, but in the future, do you know any villain kids?”

Gil should lie, but he knew he’d already played his hand.

“Yeah, I do,” he admitted. “They’re… they’re my friends and-” He frowned. “What they have been through is… _was_ horrible. And they didn’t deserve it because-” He turned to Doug. “Because they might be rough and hard through necessity but they’re also loyal, and they can be _so_ kind and fierce and passionate and-” He swallowed. “Scared. They’d never admit it, Ben, but if their parents are terrifying to people they don’t know, think of what they could have done to _them_.”

“I can’t…” Ben’s expression turned pained. “I can’t imagine it. I’m sorry that it- that this even happened. I- I have to fix it.”

“You will,” Gil said before he realized that he shouldn’t, but Ben seemed so relieved, Jane and Doug looked so _hopeful_ , that he couldn’t say anything else. “You will. It will take time, but when you do…” Gil managed a grin, and this didn’t even feel forced, it felt light and happy and true. “It will be a glorious day.”

“I can’t wait,” Ben said, his eyes shining bright. “I really can’t wait.”

-:-:-:-:-:-

Gil wasn’t sure what had woken him up, but something had tugged on his survival instincts in the comfort of Ben’s room, which hadn’t happened during his stay – nightmares excluded. He blinked awake slowly, eyes struggling to make out the intruder in the faint, pre-dawn light that spilled through Ben’s windows. There were more shadows than light, but eventually he recognized Mrs. Potts’ silhouette leaning over Doug’s sleeping body, her hand resting gently on Gil’s shoulder where she must have shaken him awake. 

His head felt fuzzy, eyes dry and logged with the scraggly remnants of sleep. He was hot because they had passed out in their fancy ball clothes, and the scents of stale sweat and silky perfume were beginning to sting his nose.

She pressed a finger to her lips when it looked like he was going to speak, and motioned for him to get out of bed. Mrs. Potts had always been kind to him, though she didn’t seem to understand him much, so Gil didn’t think much of following her lead. She closed the bed curtain behind him and then just as silently led him out of the room, letting the footmen close the door with exaggerated care.

She didn’t speak to him until they were safely down the hall, and her smile seemed different, somehow. Forced.

“Hello, dearie. King Adam thought with all the excitement from yesterday that maybe you and the others could use some time apart,” she explained as she led him down a different hallway, then up a set of stairs. “Master Ben has grown very fond of you, and King Adam’s afraid that when the time comes for you to go-” She cut herself off with a smile. “Well, he doesn’t want that to be harder than it needs to be.”

They ended up taking yet another staircase, then another, until Gil realized they must be making their way up some kind of tower.

“So we’ve had a new guest quarters prepared for you!” she chirped, bustling along like everything was fine. And Gil supposed it was, because everything she’d said was true. Gil didn’t want things to be hard on Ben either, even if he would eventually see him again. “Cogsworth was able to create an art studio just for you, and we stocked the shelves with books from the library. I can send one of the footmen down for something specific later, if you’d like.”

At the top of the winding staircase they drew to a halt outside a large, foreboding door, and Gil had no doubt in his mind that the ‘footmen’ outside his room where actually guards.

“I’ll be up with breakfast shortly, Mr. Flynn.” She gave him a kind smile, likely because she knew Gil had nothing, and she could offer him that much. “Please ring if you need anything.”

_Anything but freedom_ , Gil thought as he entered the room, the massive door shutting with an ominous _click_ behind him. 

He walked over towards the windows – locked, of course – and felt the distant curls of hysteria digging into his mind because- well, it was kind of funny. Here he was with magic hair, locked inside a tower. 

Fairytales really did repeat themselves.

He laughed because if he didn’t, he’d cry, and he had no more room for tears. The room was nice – certainly nicer than anything back on the Isle – all tall ceilings and open spaces and gold leaf furniture. There really was an art nook, complete with canvases and every paint color he could imagine. There were pastels and pencils and a collection of sketchbooks. There was a couch surrounded by bookcases that were half-full (because they had probably started this last night and hadn’t been able to finish) and a dresser full of clothes that would fit him and anything he could ever possibly need.

It was lonely, but he’d had worse. He’d had much worse.

This, he could live with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks to everyone for the lovely feedback!! With how crazy this year has been it’s always a nice highlight to my day to read your responses, and your support and enthusiasm is greatly appreciated! We’re almost at the end of this one, and I’m grateful to everyone who’s stuck around for this crazy ride. You guys are awesome! :D
> 
> Story notes:
> 
> I based the Atlantian dance on a Mesopotamian group dance I found because apparently the Atlantian language is based in Sumerian, which was in Mesopotamia? Quote me on literally none of this, I know nothing.
> 
> I know. I KNOW. I made Chad the badguy. This was before I ever started on ‘Life is a Masquerade’, so he seemed like a good enough antagonist at the time. To uphold past Paisley’s wishes, I kept the confrontation as it was, though I did some tweaking later in the story to make it less painful for me ;) 
> 
> WARNING – Breakdown. In the second scene, Gil lists some of the stuff Gaston did to him when he was younger. It is not graphic by any means, but it might still be upsetting for some people. If you would like to skip the specifics, please look for this line:
> 
> Gil couldn’t even be surprised, because Ben’s mom was smart. Crazy, smart. The prince had to have gotten it from somewhere. Maybe she had always known.
> 
> You can skip the next paragraph and jump back in at the paragraph that starts with:
> 
> “Flynn.” Belle had an arm wrapped around his shoulder…
> 
> Until next time :)


	12. Here in my Arms

Gil managed to distract himself with little things. First he’d taken a shower because he hadn’t the night before and he was caked in dried sweat, his hair oily from the dance marathon he had put it through. By the time he’d gotten out of the bathroom breakfast was waiting for him, waffles waiting under a silver platter, a bowl of grapes nearby. There was fresh whipped cream for both of them and even a small vase with flowers because Mrs. Potts knew he loved those, and it warmed his heart to think that she’d give him this even though he’d clearly messed up. He never should have spoken about the Isle, but he didn’t think he could have faced Uma again if he hadn’t. It was his duty to his captain, even if he wasn’t Gil, second mate to Uma. He wasn’t even Gil the explorer or Gil the ambassador.

Now he was just Flynn. 

And Flynn spent his days drawing and reading, then working through all the things he had been taught on his quest to explore. He ran through the sword forms General Fa had taught him, tested his penmanship by listing all the different gems and dwarven runes he could remember and each potion component in Evie’s cabinet. He used Queen Belle’s books to review the music theory King Naveen had taught him in Maldonia, he danced until he was too sad to continue, then ran through Jay’s ‘exercise routine’ so he too could get better at jumpy and flippy things. He tried to think of all the things his mo- that _Queen Rapunzel_ could have done while she was locked in her tower and ended up sketching pictures of the revitalized Dark Kingdom. He wondered what improvements he could make, what the Moonstone would allow him to do. He wondered if the others missed him, then remembered that he should return about the same time he’d left, so it was just him who missed _them_. 

Gil kept his hair loose because there was no one there to hide it from, and he spent a week like that before his silence was interrupted.

Strangely enough, it was Queen Belle who intruded on his seclusion.

“Flynn!” she greeted with a cheerful intensity that startled Gil, like they were old friends catching each other in the streets by happenstance, like nothing had gone wrong. “There you are, sweetheart. Come along.”

“Um…” Gil didn’t get up from his perch near the window. He’d been sketching Belle’s Harbor. “I uh… don’t think I’m supposed to leave.”

“Nonsense.” Her hand was firm on his elbow as she pulled him up, gliding through the room like, well, a queen inspecting her kingdom. “You’re our guest. And as a guest, you deserve some warm air and sunshine.”

“O-kayyy.” Gil scrambled for the bandana that had been tucked in his pocket (more as a safety blanket than anything else) and blinked dumbly when Queen Belle plucked it from his fingers, tucking it into one of her many pockets. “ _Um._ ”

“It’s too hot for bandanas,” she said, handing him a hair tie. It was better than nothing so Gil took it, pulling his hair back in a low ponytail and hoping they didn’t run into anyone. Hoping they weren’t actually going outside because the sun made his hair gleam, seemed to draw focus as much as he didn’t want it. 

“I’ve had a chat with my husband,” she explained halfway through their walk, and Gil didn’t quite trip on nothing but it was a near thing. “It seems we had some _miscommunications_ , but the problem’s been solved now. You can stay wherever you like.”

“Even…” Gil swallowed. “I mean, where I was?”

Queen Belle looked at him, her unyielding cheer melting into something softer, her eyes warm and fond. “Even with Ben, yes,” she allowed. “They’ve missed you. And, I suspect, you’ve missed them as well.”

“Of course I-” Gil snapped his mouth shut when he realized he’d said too much. He missed the old versions of them, he missed these young ones. He just- he liked them no matter how they were. He was pretty sure it would be impossible for him not to. “They’re my friends.”

Gil could say that here and it wasn’t a weakness. He could say he had _friends_ and not worry about them being targeted or used against him. Didn’t have to worry about them stabbing him in the back later. 

“Yes,” Queen Belle hummed, hooking her arm through his elbow, taking him out towards the back gardens. “And we are quite lucky that they are, I think.”

Gil kept his shoulders back through sheer force of will, Uma’s voice coaching him in the back of his mind to not show fear, to represent the crew with pride. The sun felt warm on his face, and he knew it was just his imagination that made his hair feel like it was buzzing, because Queen Belle hadn’t noticed anything and Gil had to trust that. 

They wound their way through the gardens, until Gil heard the distant sounds of a string quartet. Which was weird, but no weirder than the soft murmur of people, and then the queen pulled him around a corner to reveal some kind of fancy garden party taking place on the hills – clusters of small, elegant tables set up amongst the polished stone. It seemed like he had gotten there while it was winding down because most of the people attendants were lounging on picnic blankets scattered across the glossy lawn, soaking up the sun. 

“I hope you don’t mind,” Queen Belle said, as though she had ever done anything Gil could consider offensive. “I decided to host a little get together for the kids while their parents were still in town. It doubles as networking and a nice stress reliever, which I think they all appreciate.”

Networking? Why would-

It crept up on Gil slowly, when he noticed the quality and variety of the clothing being worn, realized he recognized some of the faces. They were the young royals he had seen at the ball the week before. Some of them had even been on the balcony, and Gil shouldn’t be here, he’d ruined the- even if they said he _hadn’t_ , he knew he shouldn’t be here.

“It’s okay, Flynn,” the queen said quietly, as though sensing his panic. And then, she raised a hand. “Look who I found!”

It was Jane who he saw first. Jane, lingering on the edge of the party at one of the abandoned tables, the bow in her hair a bright sort of pink that went against the dull look in her eyes. She immediately shot to her feet, shyness forgotten as she bolted across the grass. “Flynn!”

“Hi, Ja- _umph_.” Gil felt the wind knocked out of him when the young fairy slammed into his chest, and he let go of Queen Belle so he could wrap his arms around her, hold her close.

“You left us,” she murmured into his chest, stubbornly holding herself away. “They said you needed space-”

“I mean.” Gil shrugged, feeling his cheeks warm under the afternoon sun. “The king thought I did, and who am I to argue with him?”

“ _Knew it_ ,” she muttered, giving him one last squeeze before pulling away, taking the arm he offered her. “Ben was upset. We all were. Doug’s been burying himself in statistical analysis about the Isle, and Ben’s been pulling strings to get early access to the Isle regulations. I was helping him, but my mom wanted me to um… mingle.”

“That reminds me,” the queen hummed. “I’ve got another guest to pick up. Jane, could you keep Flynn company?”

“Of course, your majesty.” Jane dipped in a curtsy, and Gil bowed with her, so they could match. “I’d be delighted.”

Queen Belle did the equivalent of a royal wink. “I thought you might.”

And with that, she was gone.

“So…” Gil began as Jane tugged them towards one of the unoccupied blankets. “Garden party?”

“Ben said they do this kind of stuff.” Which meant Jane was relying on Ben’s knowledge because she didn’t actually know from her own experience. “Since most of them will be on the council someday, it’s important that they um… learn to mesh in a safe environment.”

“I can’t really think of a less intimidating place,” Gil mused, his heart feeling lighter with Jane nearby, with the castle’s flowers and trees now easily in view. It was so much better up close. “So strategically, that works out.”

“Yeah.” Jane leaned close to him, as though reminding herself he was really there. “Did they… did it hurt, when they…”

“Oh.” Gil blinked. “No, Mrs. Potts came and got me. She explained the um… situation. I didn’t fight it.” The settled down on a large blanket near a collection of flowers. “I meant what I said about not wanting any trouble.”

“It’s so _dumb_ ,” she huffed, getting back some of her characteristic feistiness. “That he can just make decisions without consulting you.”

“He’s the king, Jane,” Gil said quietly, tracing the petals of a nearby flower to ground himself. “And I’m one of his subjects. He’s allowed to give orders he thinks are for everyone’s benefit. That’s his job.”

“Still doesn’t mean you deserve it,” she groused. 

It was cute, seeing her get worked up like this. 

Gil decided to change the subject. “Want me to braid your hair?”

For whatever reason, Jane was self-conscious about her bob, though Gil didn’t know _why_. But like, Jane could wear a potato sack and he’d think she was the bee’s knees, so maybe he was just biased. She seemed to like it when Gil braided her hair, though, because it made it ‘prettier’, like the world could handle Jane being lovelier than she already was.

Jane blinked. “Um… yes, please.”

“I could add some flowers too,” Gil said as he settled himself behind her, combing her hair carefully with his fingers. “Since it is a _garden_ party.”

“I’d like that,” Jane said, and that was how he came to give Jane a half-braid, tucking pale pink blossoms in just above it. He’d had to sacrifice his own hair tie to secure it, but it had been worth it to see Jane glow, opening up like a flower towards the sun.

About that time, Ben wandered over to them.

“ _Flynn_.” He seemed relieved, like he did when Mal returned to him after a hard day, like he wasn’t sure if she’d come back. “Sorry, I had to wait until I could pull away naturally, I-” It looked like there was so much he wanted to say but couldn’t, because he was _Prince Benjamin_ here, the future king, and there were certain standards he had to hold up to. “You both look very lovely.”

Gil ducked his head, knowing Jane would blush enough for the both of them. “Thanks, Ben,” he murmured, pretending to tweak Jane’s braid so his hands could stay busy. “So um, how have you been?”

“Terrible,” Ben whispered, like that wasn’t a huge bombshell, and then the relative safety of their blanket was shattered when company decided to join them.

“It’s you,” Princess Fairuza greeted, a boy with similar features following behind her, likely her older brother Aziz. “The wise traveler. I’m glad to see you’re okay.”

“Sorry if I worried you.” Gil pulled away from Jane so he could sit beside her; let her be guarded on both sides by himself and Ben. “And sorry for the uh… commotion, I guess. That wasn’t my intention.”

“What’s a party without a bit of commotion?” The guy-who-was-probably Aziz said, spreading out on the blanket as though he owned it. “You just said what we’ve been thinking for years. I mean, our father started off as a thief. By today’s standards, he would have been shipped off to the Isle of the Lost long before he met our mother, and then where would we be?”

“Non-existent,” Fairuza mused. “We _should_ be focusing on rehabilitation. On separating crimes by severity and distributing appropriate punishments to fit them instead of a one-size-fits-all banishment.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Ben’s smile was genuine, and it might have only been a week since Gil had seen it but still it was a balm on his soul. “That’s one of the policy changes I would like to put in place when I ascend the throne.”

“Then you shall have our support,” Aziz stated, like it was that easy. “Agrabah’s vote is with you.”

“Hear, hear,” Fairuza said, holding up a glass full of lemonade in a mock toast. “And Agrabah will work on winning over Apheliotia.”

“Who will eventually win over the Olympians, because Apheliotia just can’t say no to us,” Aziz declared. “Hooray revolution, it’s a lovely thing.”

“Don’t speak of such things,” Fairuza chided. “There are some who may take you words to heart.”

“Wait, you guys…” Gil flushed when he realized he had spoken, uneasy under their joint focus. “You want to help the Isle?”

“It is as you said.” Fairuza’s tone was sure and even, every inch her mother’s daughter. “They had no more choice in their circumstances than we do ours. It is not just that we want to help, it is our duty to do so.”

“Hey!” Gil sensed the approaching body half a second before it crashed into him, and soon he found himself with an armful of giggling Princess Agot. “You’re okay! Ben said you were okay and I believed him but I’m glad to see you’re okay myself and will you braid flowers into my hair too?”

This all came out in one big rush that Gil managed to absorb nonetheless, because Agot wasn’t all that different from her mother, whose measure of enthusiasm could be ranked at a hundred percent every hour of the day. Gil knew that and he hadn’t even gotten to visit Arendelle yet, that was how pervasive her cheer was. 

“Um…” Gil blinked sort of helplessly. “Yes?”

“Kennet,” Fairuza sighed as a young blond boy trudged after Agot. “Control your sister.”

“You try telling her what to do,” Kennet scoffed, nodding at Aziz’s sympathetic smile before settling down next to his sister, who was already undoing her current set of braids. “You’ll have Arendelle’s support too, by the way. Aunt Elsa is ready to push for reform as it is.”

“And where Arendelle goes, Corona is sure to follow,” Fairuza noted. “And the Southern Isles, likely out of guilt.”

“Eh.” Aziz shrugged. “There are worse reasons to do things.”

“Corona will _definitely_ help,” Agot declared, shifting restlessly as Gil began combing out her hair. “Ruby’s like, my best friend. We can count on her.”

“Ruby isn’t crown princess yet,” Kennet said without inflection, his eyes narrowed against the sun. “But hey, Aunt Rapunzel will definitely be with you, Ben. With Uncle Eugene’s background, she’s all about rehabilitation reforms.”

Gil kept his gaze focused on Agot’s hair, forcing himself to detach from the situation because Corona politics didn’t concern him, no matter what Cassandra had said. It wasn’t- he couldn’t think of it as home. He _had_ a home, and that was with Harry and Uma and Jay – and now Ben and Jane and Doug, if they’d have him, and he thought they might, if they could ever forgive him.

He looked up when he felt the weight of someone’s stare on him, and fought back a flinch when he realized it was Kennet’s assessing gaze, his eyes seemingly fixated on Gil’s golden locks brushing against his shoulders.

“Your hair’s nice,” the young prince said out of the blue, and though Gil barely knew the guy he had the feeling he didn’t give out compliments often.

“Thanks.” Gil worked another flower into Agot’s hair.

“You had it hidden at the ball,” he noted, and this drew the interest of the two Agrabah heirs. 

“It’s um… kind of bright,” Gil said, shrugging.

“Well, _I_ think it’s pretty,” Agot declared (Gil was getting the feeling that everything she said was a declaration, and you had to appreciate that kind of certainty about someone). “It’s all silky, like Ruby’s hair.”

Ruby, who was maybe Gil’s sister. So he guessed that made sense.

“Thank you,” he repeated. “It gets tangled easily, though.”

“Does it?” Kennet asked. Somehow, it seemed like more of a statement than a question. 

Which made it a relief when Doug finally wandered towards there group like a man lost in the desert searching for water. He settled in the space on Gil’s free side, his gaze fixated on the pirate’s hair while offering a weary smile. “Hello.”

“Hey, Doug.” Gil grinned. “I heard you’ve been researching up a storm.”

“Doug’s been analyzing all available records from the Isle transactions,” Ben explained to the others.

“Excellent,” Fairuza decided. “And what have you found?”

Doug sighed. “Nothing good.”

“Tell us,” Kennet pressed, so wonderfully serious like his Aunt Elsa, focused in a manner that boded well for Arendelle’s future.

“ _Please_ ,” Agot added.

“Right.” Kennet took the chiding for what it was. “Tell us, please.”

And Doug did. 

-:-:-:-:-:-

It took a few days for them to settle back into the swing of things, but when they did, it was almost like Gil had never left. They still spent time doing research on the Isle, Ben consulting with Fairuza and Kennet via video chat as they did their own investigations and tried to come up with potential solutions for the issue that was the Isle.

Of course, Ben’s mom still only allowed for them to do so much planning a day as the weeks of summer slowly passed on, because they still needed to indulge in normal things like group mealtimes.

Gil wasn’t sure whose idea breakfast ‘with the family’ was, but he suspected it was Queen Belle, who wanted to give King Adam and Fairy Godmother an opportunity to see their children in an orderly fashion before they were whisked to the winds of whatever summer duties struck them at the time. 

Breakfast was a great idea because by that point they were still shaking off the dredges of sleep and probably weren’t coherent enough to start any fights, and it got all the social niceties out of the way for both parties so they’d have the rest of the day to do… whatever. The point was, Gil understood her logic. And he liked the polite formal breakfast well enough because it allowed him to dust off his ambassador skills with the place settings Doug had actually taught him with. Which meant he _didn’t_ get the tea spoon mixed up with the soup spoon (which was actually used for porridge as soup didn’t exist in the morning _apparently_ ) or the butter spreader mixed with the regular knife. 

Which admittedly wasn’t that impressive because everyone else _also_ didn’t get them confused, but it was a personal victory for Gil.

If things were strained after Ben’s post-ball argument with his dad it didn’t show, everyone being nice and quiet and clad in pretty pastels that would have made Gil feel self-conscious but Jane had picked out his outfit and Doug had found him a matching bandana and who was he to rain on their fun? He looked like a real Auradon kid, which would have made Uma snicker – Harry certainly wouldn’t have recovered, goading Gil until the day he died. But for um- stealth purposes, it helped, because he blended in. So. Win-win. 

Queen Belle was in the middle of outlining some charity function she had lined up when Jane sneezed, which in itself wasn’t a notable action because people did that but Jane was a full-blooded Fae, which sometimes called for the occasional burst of magic. 

Or, in this instance, causing the sugar in the small serving dish to explode all over Gil like a fine mist of pixie dust.

Gil blinked out of his stupor and yep, he was covered in sugar.

Jane looked mortified. “I’m so sorry, Flynn. I didn’t mean to. I-” She turned to the king. “It just happens sometimes.”

“We’re working on her control,” Fairy Godmother soothed, offering her daughter’s shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“Hey, it’s alright.” Gil used his napkin to clean off his face, resisting the urge to shake off like a dog and share his sugared state with Doug right beside him. “Magic backlash happens, it’s no big deal.” 

“Magic backlash?” Doug echoed, immediately zeroing in on the intellectual curiosity, his breakfast temporarily forgotten. It would stay that way until his mind was either A) sated or B) someone forced the food upon him, but Gil was sort of busy with all the sugar so he went with option A.

“It’s when magic-enhanced beings ignore their powers for long periods of time,” he explained. “The magic’s always there but without an outlet it builds up, until it can come out in bursts like-” He motioned to the sugar dish. “ _Bam_ – magic backlash.” 

“You sound well-versed on the subject,” King Adam noted, his hand stilled against the table. Ignoring his breakfast, just like Doug. 

Maybe he was curious too.

“Not really.” Gil shrugged. “I’m friends with a few fairies, though.” And a witch? He wasn’t sure what Evie was. Jay was a sorcerer-in-training though, and that was cool. “They explained it to me.”

“Then they also likely understand the importance of the magic ban,” King Adam continued. “Unless you have another differing opinion?”

It wasn’t like Gil talked to the king on an average day, but ever since the Midsummer ball things between them had been especially strained, though Gil suspected that was because he had turned his son against the king accidentally.

“It um… might not surprise you to hear I do.” Gil admitted, leaning forward so he could brush some of the sugar onto his plate. A few servants had already arrived to help clean up the excess, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t help them. “I think the magic ban, much like the Isle of the Lost, comes from a place of good intention, but the execution of it leaves much to be desired.”

“How so?” It wasn’t angry, more of a neutral probe, and Gil felt confident to continue.

“Well, the reason the magic ban was implemented in the first place was to protect against magic-based villainy, but the truth is that anyone who was going to use magic to hurt people – thus breaking the law – probably wouldn’t have any issue ignoring the magic ban – yet another law. So really, the ban only hurts magically-inclined individuals who are law-abiding citizens. You took a part of them, claimed it was bad and forbade it, but you couldn’t stop it from, you know, existing. So it’s like they’ve got this extra arm, I guess, and it’s part of them, a natural part of them that the universe gave them, but you made a law that said this third arm was bad and couldn’t be used _ever_. So they have to tie it up or hide it, but there’s nothing wrong with it, and they wouldn’t use it to hurt anyone.”

“I think that’s a simplistic view of things,” the king didn’t mutter, because he was a king and that wasn’t what they did, but his voice was cool and level, and would have cut Gil to the core if he hadn’t been raised by a man who despised him. 

“Maybe,” Gil allowed. “Look, I get it. You get individuals like Jafar who use their magic to hypnotize people against their will and think – that’s a thing that needs to be stopped, and you’re right. But for every Jafar, there’s a genie to help save the day. To get Aladdin a chance to rise up and meet the Sultana. For every Maleficent, there’s a Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather to lessen the curse from death to sleep, to keep the kingdom in stasis. And if you look at things like they’re black and white, it seems like a no-brainer to forbid magic, because if Jafar and Maleficent hadn’t had their powers in the first place then we wouldn’t have needed good fairies or genies to help save the day.” 

Gil pieced together the argument slowly because this was his alone – Evie and Mal had never had to go up against King Adam like this. They had councils they had to argue down of people who were considered their peers, but they never had to stand toe-to-toe with a goliath while covered in sugar. That was Gil’s unique experience alone.

“The problem is, magic is like- it’s like grass.” Fairy Godmother blinked at him, but Gil didn’t let that slow him down. “It’s part of this world and it’s everywhere. And you can forbid it, say it’s bad and try to burn it away, but it’s just going to start growing somewhere else because it’s natural. It is a natural part of our lives. And I…” He tried to steel himself. “I understand your concern, because magic did some horrible things to you. It made you a beast, it made everyone forget about your kingdom, it turned your staff into animated objects. But um… without that curse, you probably wouldn’t have met Queen Belle. You probably wouldn’t have changed, because why would you have needed to? You had everything.” Everything and still wanted more when others had nothing. “And if you think of it, without that curse, without changing, maybe instead of the hero, you would have become the villain.”

Gil could feel the deathly silence that had fallen over the room, but Gil-

He’d faced Cassandra and he’d faced Gaston and this fight, this one here, it was a battle that had already been won by Evie and Mal and Uma and Ben. Gil wasn’t doing anything terribly difficult, here. 

“Maybe you wouldn’t be king at all,” Gil said. “But we’ll never know that, because you had been cursed. Because an Enchantress – guided by no nation – wandered near your castle and knew you needed to change. I think-” Gil swallowed. “I think when you ban your people from using their magic; you take away their chance to train a part of themselves. You take away their chances to learn how to use part of themselves in a safe environment. You say they’re wrong, that it’s a shortcut, and you take away the chance for the next Fairy Godmother to emerge and contribute to the world. The next genie, the next blue fairy, the next enchantress. You take that away-”

“I think,” King Adam began. “That’s enough.”

“It’s just-” But Gil couldn’t stop now. “Lady Tremaine doesn’t have magic.”

This seemed to make them all pause.

“There wasn’t one magical thing about her,” Gil continued, and he could _feel_ Fairy Godmother’s eyes hard on his face, as though peering into his soul. “And yet it still took Fairy Godmother’s help to get Queen Ella to the ball. Not because they were against an evil wizard or a scheming sorcerer, but because Lady Tremaine had taken so very much from Queen Ella that the only way to possibly restore balance was for a Fairy Godmother to light the way. To give someone who was kind and gentle, whose heart was pure, a chance to meet her prince and lead their country to prosperity. I-”

He knew King Adam wanted him to be silent, but now that he had started, there was just so much to say.

“Queen Elsa was born with her powers. And she was terrified of them, she tried to hide them for years, but in the end-” He saw Queen Belle nod slowly, and that show of support was enough to see him through. “In the end it was only accepting her powers, in loving that part of herself and what it could bring her kingdom – that saved Arendelle. Because magic _isn’t_ wrong, it can just be used poorly. And instead of punishing the whole due to the um – abuses of the few – maybe proper regulations should be put in place to ensure the protection of innocent individuals that doesn’t involve just banishing it altogether. Because that isn’t fair, and this place, Auradon-” He motioned around them. “That’s what it’s supposed to be about, isn’t it? It’s supposed to be _better_.”

King Adam made to stand, but Gil was faster.

“No, um- I’ll go. Since I’m-” He motioned to himself. “Covered in sugar. Um-” He bowed. “Thank you, for the invite. It was delicious as always.”

With that, he beat a hasty retreat, shedding sugar dust as he went. 

He could practically _hear_ Cogsworth crying.

So much for an uneventful breakfast.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Gil was half-tempted to pack up a bag and return to his royal banishment room, but he knew Queen Belle would likely track him down if he tried it. Knew Ben and the others would probably hunt him down too, so instead of running he retreated into the shower, dumping his sugared clothes into the hamper before sliding under the water. When all else failed, hot water magically falling from a pipe seemed to be a soothing recipe for Gil, and it worked this time too. He knew it was dumb to get worked up over things that had already been fixed, but it was hard to stay silent when he had a chance to speak up. It was what Ben’s ambassador program was all about, in the end. Even if Gil had felt unqualified for it, he and Jay had done their best. Not always to the best results, but they had tried.

He realized he’d forgotten to bring a change of clothes with him when he was toweling off, so he slid into Ben’s fluffy robe (it was kind of the best, and also _plaid_ ) and walked back into the bedroom.

Of course by then the others were waiting for him, Jane tugging at a loose strand of hair while she and Doug more or less cuddled on the couch reading books. Ben was pacing the length of the room, his eyes lost in thought, only blinking into awareness when Gil crossed over towards the dresser.

“Sorry,” Gil offered before they could say something like _‘It’s not your fault’_. “You didn’t yell at your dad again, did you?”

“No,” Ben sighed. “And you don’t have anything to apologize for, either.”

Gil shrugged, not bothering to deny him because then they’d just get into another impossible argument before he started digging through the drawers for fresh clothes.

“Do you really believe all that?” Jane asked, rising to her feet. “I mean, obviously you believe it, but just-” She pressed her hands together. “Do you really think I’m shutting down a part of myself?”

Gil blinked. “Yeah. I mean, your magic’s part of you, like your hair or your hands. And there isn’t anything wrong with it, it’s _yours_.”

She stared down at her fingers in wonder, as though taking his words literally. “Mom always told me magic was a shortcut.”

“I mean, it might be.” Gil shrugged. “The same way wings might be a shortcut for birds. It’s just something you can do that no one else can, but like anything else, it’s all in how you use it.”

He pulled out a new outfit at random and made his way towards Ben’s closet.

“We’ve been reading up on the magic ban,” Doug explained, because that was what Doug did when presented with a problem, he researched. “I hadn’t realized how stifling the regulations were.”

“It’s um- kind of messed up if you look into it,” Gil said, projecting his voice so it could carry through the cracked open door while he changed. “There are literal races that are classified as lesser because they’re magic proficient. It’s real bad.”

“I know.” Doug sighed. “My father- his people are one of those races.”

“You guys are probably going to punch me if I say _‘I can’t believe it’_ ,” Ben griped. “But I honestly never thought about this. What kind of prince does that make me?”

“A fallible one?” Gil offered, strolling back out of the closet, Ben’s robe hooked over his arm. “You’re human, Ben. And young. Learn from this and move on.”

“But how?” Jane asked. “Can we even lift the magic ban?”

Gil said nothing, though he knew for a fact that Jane and the others had been working on the groundwork for undoing the plan for years prior to its actual collapse. Looked like maybe this was what set it off.

“You could plan for the eventuality,” he suggested. “Prep regulations in case it ever does get lifted since, you know, Ben’s going to be king soon.” Gil offered him a smile. “And maybe you won’t be able to fix things immediately, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make an outline.”

It was a suggestion that spoke to those three on a spiritual level – a challenge combined with research, organization, and a firm application of details. Yes, if anyone could do it, these three could.

“That,” Ben began with a grin. “Sounds absolutely brilliant.”

Gil laughed. “I have my moments.”

“Every darn day,” Doug muttered, but he was already lost to the scribble of his notebook, pointing out a particular passage that Jane cooed over, sending her back into Ben’s secret library to pull out a stack of law books.

Yes, it seemed they had found their new project.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Eventually, Gil had to recruit Queen Belle into enforcing a healthy work/play balance, much to the displeasure of the others.

“Come on,” she chided, gathering up their research material. “You can still look into this while you get back to school. Or for a few hours a day, not for _days at a time_.”

“ _Ugh_ ,” Ben sighed, loud and very unprincely, but Jane only giggled, surrendering her books with grace.

“I know.” The queen grinned. “I’m the worst.”

She was actually the best, but Gil was too shy to say so. He was pretty sure that deep down, she knew.

-:-:-:-:-:-

It was a pleasant afternoon when Ben and Gil decided to stroll the gardens.

It was something they’d done before plenty of times, though it had never just been just the two of them. It was that day, because Doug’s family had requested some time with him before he had to go back to school, which resulted in a jazz concert somewhere in the city that would be followed by lunch. Gil had already asked Doug to bring him back one of the programs so they could look the music up when he got back to the castle and listen to it together. Gil liked listening to music, but he especially liked to listen to Doug practice his trumpet. The dwarf-kin got all flushed whenever Gil did though, because he often had to practice the same parts of a song over and over again, but Gil didn’t mind. He understood the difference between practice and a performance – he just liked listening to Doug excel at something he was obviously passionate about. 

Anytime Gil brought that up though, Doug got all flushed, and then Ben would smile that soft grin of his that was usually reserved for Mal or Carlos and Gil would get a weird feeling in his stomach. He shouldn’t though, because Doug totally deserved Ben’s smiles. They were pretty great.

Fairy Godmother, taking a page from Doug’s parents, decided to jump on the bonding bandwagon and had paused her research to whisk Jane off for an afternoon of back-to-school shopping. This was what had left Ben and Gil all on their lonesome, which would have been weirder a month ago, but now Ben and Gil were bros. 

It was still kind of strange, to think that Gil was friends with a king. Or, a guy who _would_ be king. It was odd, but nice. 

Ben insisted they take their time as they meandered the sprawling garden path towards the outskirts of the castle property. Gil was pretty sure the prince just wanted to escape their keepers for a few hours so they could breathe, which Gil appreciated, though he would like it more if um- Ben wouldn’t stand so close to him. The prince did that a lot, walking near enough that their arms would brush together. Sometimes, more embarrassingly, it was their _hands_ , and Gil was afraid he might do something stupid like grab Ben’s the way Evie did with Doug, or Jane with Carlos. 

He couldn’t though, because _that wasn’t his place_ , but the dumb, stupid urge remained.

Obviously, he’d had too many ‘rewards’ with the king in the future. Well, the past. Time travel was confusing, but the point was, Gil was getting mixed up. Especially when young Ben would look at him like he could hang the moon and Gil really couldn’t. He wasn’t sure how he’d lasted this long with the young versions of the others thinking he was cool. He was far from it, that was almost an undisputed fact. 

“Nice afternoon, isn’t it?” Ben hummed, his shoulder brushing against Gil’s. “You want to stop and sketch anything?”

“Nah, I’m good.” Gil was feeling a little lazy, and besides, the idea of Ben just sort of watching Gil mediocrely sketch something felt embarrassing. “I’d rather focus on enjoying our time together.”

It wouldn’t last much longer, Gil knew. Fairy Godmother’s last report had the solution projected to arrive in a few days, which meant Gil would be leaving. It made him sad, because he’d miss the easiness of this, even if he was technically friends with Ben in the future. 

Unfortunately, the future also included him being a lost prince somehow and the _Hero of Corona_ so really, Gil wasn’t in a super rush to get back there.

“Yeah?” Ben asked, bringing Gil back to the present. A light flush dusted his cheeks, likely from the soft afternoon heat. “I enjoy spending time with you too, Flynn.”

Oh. Wow. That earnestness was going to do Gil in one day. No wonder Mal liked Ben so much.

“I’m gonna miss you,” Ben admitted, and then his hand was- oh, he was sliding it into Gil’s, twining their fingers together like it was nothing, even though Gil’s pulse felt like it was about to beat out of his chest. “I know we’re friends in the future, but I… it’s dumb, I guess. I want you as soon as possible. I don’t like the idea of missing a single second with you.”

“ _Ben_.” Gil could feel himself blushing, a pointed heat blooming in his cheeks because Ben was waxing poetic but like, they were just friends. And sure, it wasn’t a surprise from Ben because the guy was so nice, but Gil himself was kind of dumb so his heart started pounding faster. 

Ben stared at him for a moment, pulling them to a complete stop as he stared at Gil. It was like he was taking the blond apart with his gaze, staring at everything that made up his being, before he eventually swallowed.

“I um… I need you to forgive my forwardness,” he said, and Gil was about to ask what that meant exactly when the prince was urging him back against the garden wall, one hand on Gil’s hip and the other cupping his cheek and-

 _Ben was kissing him_. 

Gil felt disconnected from his body, ears ringing with a relentless white noise as his mind tried to soak up and violently refuse to process what was happening at the same time. Somehow, he was able to detect the smooth feel of Ben’s lips, just as firm as he’d imagined them, and shivered under the strong presence boxing him against the garden wall, Ben shifting forward in a relentless press as though he could melt into Gil until they were one person. It was everything he wanted but wrong, it was wrong, and a high-pitched whine echoed from Gil’s throat when he finally managed to pull away. 

Ben didn’t look much better than he felt. His chest was heaving, lips parted as he took in deep gasps of air. There was an attractive flush on his cheeks that matched his lips, his hair seemingly disheveled even though Gil hadn’t touched him, had forced his hands to curl into fists against his sides in an effort to keep from grabbing the prince. 

“You…” Gil swallowed, shivering under Ben’s intense gaze, as though Gil were the only person in the world. “You can’t do that.”

“Right,” Ben managed between breaths, looking apologetic. “I have a girlfriend. I should have- I need to talk to her before we-”

“ _No_.” Gil shook his head, sidestepping so he could get his back away from the wall, could get some space. “We can’t do this, Ben. We’re not supposed to- You can’t-” Gil swallowed down a noise of frustration as the words got muddled on his tongue. “We’re not a _thing_. You get a thing and it’s a good thing-” A great thing, because it was Mal, who felt everything with such passion that even Harry seemed in awe of her. “But I’m not-”

“Flynn…” Ben reached a hand out in front of him, conflicted in his need to touch Gil but still give him space. “I know how I feel.”

“But you don’t know me!” Gil had forgotten, with the way everyone had been acting – they were so nice to him, but that was only because they thought he was some kind of hero, and he wasn’t. “I’m not some exchange student, Ben. I didn’t even qualify to get into Auradon Prep. I’m-” He had to say it now; he couldn’t hide behind the stupid timeline forever. “I’m from the Isle, Ben. That’s why you haven’t met me, yet. Right now, I’m out there.”

He motioned towards the ugly bubble in the distance, heart filling with a bitter cold that made it difficult to breathe.

“How…” Ben seemed at a loss. “How did you get out?”

“It’s a long story.” Excuses, excuses, excuses. “But um… when you turn sixteen, you’re gonna make a decree to bring some Isle kids over to make a fresh start. It…” Gil shouldn’t have said that much, but under Ben’s searching gaze, it was hard to keep silent. “It all turns out good, Ben. You need to know that. A lot of stuff is going to happen, but it’ll be good in the end.”

“That…” Ben looked away, eyes blinking rapidly and Gil hoped he wasn’t fighting back tears. Not over this. “That was why you said they- they’re my people too.”

“They are, Ben.” Gil wished Evie or Mal or Uma were here to explain it themselves, but with their loss he tried to do their words justice. “There’s so many people over there who don’t deserve to be trapped under that barrier, and they don’t- they don’t have anything, Ben. All they have is you.”

Even if Ben didn’t know it yet.

“What…” Ben was frowning at the ground now, that way he seemed to do when he was struggling for composure. Not that Gil had ever seen it, had only heard tales of it from Jane. “What’s your actual name, Flynn?”

The lie came so easily Uma would have been proud.

“Carlos,” Gil managed, didn’t even hesitate. Somehow, he knew this had always been the plan. Ben was always going to ask, and Gil couldn’t change the future but he could bank on the Isle’s lack of photographic records to prod history in the right direction. “Carlos De Ville.”

Ben’s eyebrows rose in a look of surprise. “You’re Cruella’s son?”

“Yep.” Gil managed a rueful smile. “You know how she got all crazy about Dalmatian fur? Imagine how um… ‘inspired’ she’d feel about gold hair.”

The look of horror that crossed Ben’s face made Gil feel like he’d been gutted by a rusty knife, but it needed to be done. The others had always expressed confusion over why Carlos had been selected as one of the first Isle students. The other three made sense, their parents ran the Isle – the Evil Queen acting as regent to the ‘upper-class’, Maleficent a terror of magic with her goblin army, and Jafar holding a vice grip over the Isle’s economy. 

But Cruella was just a fashionista. Crazy, mean, and ill-tempered like so many villains were, but otherwise harmless (unless your name was Carlos, and then she was your worst nightmare, a demon disguised in human flesh). 

It would have made more sense for Uma to be selected, or Harry, if they really wanted two boys.

But Gil had bonded with Ben, and Ben thought he was Carlos.

It was a win-win.

Granted, he still felt sick to his stomach when he realized he was pretty much condemning himself to the Isle, but he’d gotten off of it eventually, hadn’t he? And with Uma and Harry too, which was the only way he wanted to be free anyway.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Ben said, though he couldn’t have the first idea for what he was actually apologizing for. “I didn’t know…”

“Don’t um- pity me. Us. Just-” Gil swallowed, shrugging his shoulders. “Try to understand. Some villains are misguided and can be redeemed, and others…” Others surrendered to their hatred and cruelty and wanted nothing more than to watch the world burn. “Others can’t. And their kids shouldn’t suffer for it.”

Not when they’d already suffered enough.

“Of course not,” Ben agreed, didn’t even hesitate. “You must hate me.”

“You?” Gil didn’t understand the shift. “No.” Never. “Your dad’s not super popular but you… you tried. You didn’t have to, but you tried.”

To someone who had nothing, that counted for a lot.

“We…” Ben studied him carefully, eyes watery and rimmed with red. “We’re going to meet?”

“Eventually.” Maybe not as soon as he expected, but it would happen. “Honestly, I’m not going to be very nice to you, but I’ll come around.”

It was inevitable, Gil thought. He had tried so hard to avoid Ben, to distract himself from the king entirely, but it couldn’t be done. Even for someone as dumb as him.

Maybe he had doomed himself from the start.

A tentative grin pulled at Ben’s lips. “I can believe that,” he said quietly. “I look forward to it.”

“You really won’t, is the thing.” Gil was pretty sure there wasn’t anyone who enjoyed being kidnaped. “But we’ll get there. It’s going to take longer than you expect, though.”

“You’re worth it.” He didn’t even hesitate, and Gil wanted to hate him for it, hated _himself_ for the flood of warmth that filled his chest, melting the ice like it was nothing.

“Ben…” Gil didn’t sigh. He was past sighing. “You’re going to get a good thing, okay? And I want you to promise me-”

“Carlos-” Wow, that hurt to hear.

“ _Promise_ me,” Gil pressed. “That you will appreciate that good thing. That you’ll take care of it. Because it- it’s going to change your life.”

For better. Gil didn’t know much, but he knew that.

“How?” Ben’s brows were furrowed, jaw clenched as he tried to keep himself composed. “How can it be so good if you’re not a part of it?”

Ben didn’t know. He didn’t know how brilliant the others were because he hadn’t seen them, and when he did, Gil would be old news. Right now he was different, unique because he was unknown, but Ben would see. He’d know.

“Just…” Gil managed a weak smile. “Trust me.”

It startled a watery laugh from Ben, and soon they had both fallen prey to helpless chuckles, pretending that the one or two tears that leaked from the corners of their eyes existed because they were happy.

“I’m gonna see you again,” Ben declared when the laughter died down. “I’m gonna see you again and when I do, I’m gonna show you I’m right.”

Gil shrugged, because the next time he saw Ben after they both remembered this conversation would be in Corona, and he’d be safely claimed by Mal. “As long as you keep your promise.”

“I will.” Ben nodded, thoughtlessly agreeing to the unknown because he was too trusting. Thank goodness he’d get Mal. Someone with some sense. “I promise.”

“Then we’re good,” Gil said, in what was probably the most ironic sentence of his life.

-:-:-:-:-:-

It wasn’t long before Fairy Godmother announced that she had successfully managed to recreate Varian’s runes. She’d had a breakthrough during her shopping trip with Jane, meaning that Gil would definitely be gone in a few days.

He was confused by the delay, but when he’d tried to ask Queen Belle about it, she had only squeezed his shoulder and said something about offering proper goodbyes. 

So the next few days were spent with even more bonding than before, with cuddles and an actual blanket fort and the epic conclusion of the latest Flynn Rider story. Jane fretted over him, and Doug took it upon himself to re-check Fairy Godmother’s work, and Ben did his best to be comforting without being too close because Gil hadn’t been lying about his very good thing. 

And then the day came for him to actually leave.

“Hey.” Ben grabbed his wrist before Gil could follow after Fairy Godmother, Jane and Doug flanking the prince like some kind of pastel bodyguards. “We’ve got something for you, before you leave.”

“I don’t think I can take anything with me,” Gil said, fidgeting nervously. 

King Adam had been very insistent about that, making sure Gil was dressed in every article of clothing he had originally teleported in with and nothing more, everything carefully inventoried. Gil wondered if they’d keep records of him somewhere, then realized all of this stuff would be burnt the moment he left them.

“As future king, I’m making an exception,” Ben pressed, as though he were one to casually abuse his authority (he wasn’t, and Gil didn’t know how to feel about that, or the firm smiles that seemed to be plastered on the other two’s faces). “You’re going to lose a bracelet doing this, a bracelet that I gave you, so we thought we could make you a replacement.”

Before Gil could protest, a slim box was being nudged into his hand, a white rectangle tied with a ribbon in Auradon blue.

“Ben designed it,” Jane’s tone was brimming with excitement as she watched Gil undo the ribbon. “And Doug forged it.”

“Jane enchanted it,” Doug added, grin spread wide. “To make it more durable.”

“It will only come off by your hand.” Jane’s cheeks flushed as her contributions were revealed. “Nothing else should break it.”

Gil’s fingers stilled on the lid. “ _Guys_ ,” he said, overwhelmed, unsure of how to proceed. 

“Open it,” Ben urged. “So you can remember us.”

“I’m not going to forget you,” Gil said. “We’re friends.”

“As much as you tried to insist otherwise,” Doug noted, eyes shining with amusement when he was met with Gil’s exasperation.

“Open it,” Ben repeated, interrupting before Gil could stall, because he wanted to. He did.

The tremble of his fingers was so slight that you’d likely only notice it if you were really looking, but still, they were there, Gil feeling adrift in the sea as he carefully pulled off the top of the box.

What was held inside took his breath away.

It was a thin chain, but gold – a gold unashamedly brilliant as his hair, shining in the low light of the candles. Each chain seemed to be shaped like a leaf – _Flynn Rider’s_ symbol rounded on the outsides with straight lines down the middle, the dividers laced with small shimmery stones he hoped weren’t diamonds. 

It was beautiful, and even though they had already said he couldn’t break it, Gil was afraid of doing just that, the work seemed so delicate in his hands.

“Here.” Ben took it from the box when Gil made no move to do so, clipping it around his right wrist, just above the material of his glove. “A bracelet for a bracelet.”

“It’s too much,” Gil said, panic building in his throat. “I can’t-”

“You can.” It was Jane that said it, her eyes earnest and wide. “You can and you will, because we made it for you.”

“And when we see you have it,” Ben continued, picking up the conversation effortlessly. “We’ll know we’re on the same page.”

Gil swallowed hard, his throat feeling dry. “You are going to be disappointed.” 

Because it was going to take forever.

Doug seemed to sense this. “Good things are worth waiting for.”

“I…” Gil’s fingers traced the delicate links of the bracelet. “You’ll have to wait but promise me you won’t like, _wait_ -wait, for me, okay? Because all of you-” He stepped back so he could properly look at each of them, all of them too trusting and genuinely kind. “All of you are going to get good things, okay? And if you don’t appreciate them I- I’ll never forgive you.”

“Then we’ll appreciate them,” Ben said, like it was that easy. “Just try to do the same.”

“I’m from the future, Ben,” Gil laughed. “I’ve already done that.”

“Then _keep_ doing that.” Jane poked a finger against his chest, as though it somehow made her point stronger.

Strangely enough, Gil thought that it did.

“Flynn?” It was Queen Belle, hovering at the entrance of the preparation chamber. “It’s time.”

“Okay.” Gil nodded. 

He could do this. He didn’t know what was wrong with him, he already knew these people. They were already his friends. But now they seemed so vulnerable, so young. And he’d left a mark on that, as much as they had on him.

Before he could go, he found himself with an armful of Jane, Doug and Ben following half a second behind her. “ _Bye, Carlos,_ ” she whispered, careful to keep her voice low. “ _And thanks_.”

“We’ll see you soon,” Ben promised.

“Very soon,” Doug added, because he didn’t know he’d been lied to.

Somehow, Gil managed a grin. “I’ll see you when I see you,” he said, because that at least was true. “Bye, guys.”

They stood like that for a second, memorizing the moment, and then Gil made himself pull away, towards Queen Belle’s small grin. Her hand felt warm on his shoulder when she guided him into the room, past King Adam’s small nod of approval and Fairy Godmother reviewing her work for what was probably the hundredth time.

“Alright,” the fairy decided when Gil was standing in the center of the diagram. “When the light fades you should be back in Corona, a few hours after your initial departure.”

“Thanks, Fairy Godmother,” Gil said, trying to show as much of his gratitude as possible. “Thanks, all of you. I’m very grateful for your help, and your hospitality.”

Across the room, Queen Belle settled her hand on the crook of King Adam’s elbow, a small gesture that somehow solidified them as a united pair. “It was our pleasure, Flynn.”

“Truly,” King Adam agreed, and that was overwhelming, but only because he didn’t know who Gil’s father was. Or, his fake father.

The next time he’d see them…

Actually, Gil had never spoken to the king and queen in person.

He supposed now that worked out for the best.

Just like before, the blinding light hid their smiling faces, and he disappeared with a chant of _“Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because why would I not end it in a cliffhanger? It’s like you don’t know me at all ;)
> 
> Hey guys, thanks for the feedback! Is it strange to say that it tickles me how much you are displeased by Adam’s actions? Because it really does, despite the fact that deep down I do like the dude. Looks like he’s tagging out with Audrey for this story to be the super convenient antagonist, lol.
> 
> Shoutout to GoddessMillenia for figuring out that Gil would be locked up for roughly 2.8 seconds. You know me so well ;D
> 
> Story notes: 
> 
> I honestly don’t know if Belle’s Harbor is close enough to Auradon Castle for Gil to see it, but if not, assume he is sketching it from memory, lol. 
> 
> I just about always have Kennet and Agot (Anna and Kristof’s kids) as younger than the other royal heirs, preteens instead of teenagers. They are also OCs made up for the purpose of this story, as are all the other Auradon heirs mentioned save for Aziz and Ruby, who are actually part of the Descendants canon. 
> 
> I will forever and always declare that soup is a perfectly reasonable breakfast food, and no one can convince me otherwise. And I’m not talking about those chilled fruits soups, bring on the cream of potato, baby!
> 
> So I did a lot of reading before I ever started writing for the Descendants, to the point where I had assumed the Magic Ban was an established thing. Upon re-watching the movies, I picked up on something I’d missed the first time, where magic wasn’t explicitly banned, just more or less out of fashion. So that’s why I feature the Magic Ban in my early works but not the later ones, and apparently why I had to have Gil give this whole big spiel about why it was dumb, because in a mystical fairytale world, it would be. 
> 
> I very much made-up Flynn Rider’s symbol to match the [bracelet](https://www.caratlane.com/jewellery/juana-leaf-linked-bracelet-ut00177-2y0000.html) I had found to use as a reference. 
> 
> Excuse me while I blatantly borrow a line from Ocean’s Eleven.
> 
> EDIT - CinderSong made me realize the quote was actually from Ocean's Thirteen. That's a my bad! 
> 
> Until next time :)


	13. More than you Dreamt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING – Referenced Perceived Death of a Child – It is not graphic, but in the fourth scene, there is a conversation that touches on the perceived death of a child. See endnotes for more details. 
> 
> WARNING – Referenced child endangerment and miscarriage – In the sixth (last) scene, there is a reference to less-than-savory things happening to unclaimed children on the Isle. It is not graphic, and only a reference, but if you would like to skip it, see the endnotes for more details.

This time he landed where he was supposed to, in one of the small garden courtyards of Corona castle.

He was in the right place, there was just way more people than he’d been expecting.

“Gil!” It was Queen Arianna who rushed to him first, enveloping him in a warm hug that made Gil’s bones melt. “Oh sweetheart, I knew you said it would be longer than we expected, but I didn’t think it’d be like _this_.”

“I don’t-” Gil said, his throat feeling tight with emotion because now he could finally ask the questions that had been wearing on him for months. “I don’t understand. I thought they only had a daughter.”

“That the public knew of,” the queen soothed, running a comforting hand over the top of his head. “The full story isn’t mine to tell, but you’re their son, Flynn. You’re ours.”

“…grandma,” Gil’s voice cracked, sounding horribly small when he said the word for the first time as Gil- _Gil_ , she had said, and not Flynn, which meant she knew. 

When she pulled back from him there were tears spilling down her face, but these seemed to be happy ones that framed a brilliant smile. “I’m so _proud_ of you, Gil. Frederic and I both.”

A spike of anxiety built in Gil’s throat.

“I didn’t tell them,” Arianna continued. “I wanted you to meet them on your own terms, but I had to tell your grandfather.”

“And I told King Edmund.” The low gravelly voice broke into their reunion with more care than Gil would expect, but it was still good to see Quirin, though he was older now. Both of them were, but they wore their years well, smiling at Gil with genuine warmth. “He’s very proud of you, Gil.”

“A _‘little longer’_ , my ass.” A new voice grumbled, the only warning Gil got before his arm was punched, the large engineer’s glove only doing so much to soften the blow. Varian was as tall as Gil now, though he still wore a look of pouting petulance that reminded Gil of his younger self. “Way to undersell a tragedy, your highness.”

“Please um- no ‘highness’ing, okay?” Gil batted his hand away with a small grin. “I’m really not qualified for it.”

“So?” Varian pressed. “Rapunzel wasn’t qualified. Eugene wasn’t qualified. Not being qualified seems to run in your family.”

“Yeah, but they’re…” Gil swallowed. “Never mind. It’s good to see you, Varian.”

The inventor’s gaze narrowed, a warning that the conversation was not over, but before he could lay into Gil (and he would, because even that couldn’t have changed), a new voice cut in.

“If you guys don’t mind…” Ben parted their group as effortlessly as breathing, his hands tucked behind his back and a coy smile tugging at his lips. “I would like a moment with the prince.”

Queen Arianna dipped her head in a graceful bow. “Of course, your majesty.”

Varian looked like he wanted to argue but Quirin kept him in line, urging him into a polite bow before pulling the inventor away, following the former queen’s path. Belatedly, Gil realized Jane and Doug were hovering near the entrance of the garden, and upon catching his attention they made their way in, crossing the grass in large, inelegant steps.

“You,” Ben picked up as soon as the others had left, his gaze shifting between Gil and the bracelet on his wrist. “You _lied_ to me.”

“To be fair,” Gil grunted around Jane’s tackle hug, the young fairy seeming intent to latch onto him and never let go. “I told you not to trust me.”

“We waited,” Doug said. “We waited just like we promised.”

“And now we want our good thing,” Jane muttered into his chest. “Our good _with you_ thing.”

“We’ll need to talk to the others,” Ben declared, coming up behind Gil to wrap his arms around him and Doug, with all his dwarven determination, seemed set on taking all of them in his arms, whether it was physically possible or not. “Explain what happened, but-”

“Love you,” Jane murmured.

Gil felt his body tremble with helpless shivers.

“Yeah,” Ben said. “That pretty much sums it up.”

-:-:-:-:-:-

Returning to the royal suites was terrifying despite the fact that Gil had the others by his side, because Uma and Harry were behind those doors, Mal and the rest of the Core Four were waiting and that included Jay, who had betrayed Gil and kicked off this whole venture in the first place. Even with Jane’s hand firm in his and Doug’s hand on his shoulder and Ben paving the way in front of them, Gil wanted to hide, but if he started running now he’d be running forever, and he didn’t want to run if it meant losing Ben and Jane and Doug. 

So he forced his steps to be steady as they approached the suite, even when he heard the muffled chaos within spilling through the door.

“ _Ben said he would get him_ ,” Mal was saying. “ _Just calm down. It’s **fine**_.”

It didn’t sound fine. It sounded like Mal was barely keeping it together, though she’d managed it for the sake of the others, was acting as the de facto leader with Ben missing, as was her way.

“ _It’s not **fine**_ ,” Uma shot back, forever challenging. “ _Nothing about this is **fine**!”_

Ben knocked on the door and the clamber immediately died off, things hesitating for a moment before Carlos yanked the door open, searching out with frantic eyes. His posture immediately relaxed when he caught sight of them, and then he motioned them inside, turning back to the others. “They’re here.”

“ _Gil!_ ” Harry charged out the door to meet them, pulling Gil away from Jane and Doug to yank him into a fierce hug. “Stop wanderin’ off without us, ye _lug_.”

“Sorry,” Gil whispered. “I just- I needed some fresh air. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“ _Always_ wake us, ye slag,” he hissed. “Sick of waking up without ye-”

“Harry.” Uma’s voice was firm but her expression was unreadable, that of a composed captain ready to pass her judgements. “Let’s get inside.”

The first mate let out an unintelligible growl but dragged Gil into the room towards the lounge area, where Ben had more or less coerced the others into settling.

“Okay,” Ben said, calling everyone to order, proud and tall as he’d been the first day Gil had met him on the Isle, when even Evie’s creation couldn’t hide his kingliness. “So I think we have a few things we need to talk about.”

“Ye _think?_ ” Harry snapped, tugging Gil down onto a couch so that he was nestled between the first mate and Uma – which was, frankly, a place Gil always liked to be, though he hated that it took this to get him there.

“None of that,” Jane said, her expression unyielding. “We’ve got enough to deal with as it is; we’re not going to make this harder by turning on one another.”

“Harry,” Uma said before the pirate could snap some kind of retort, making the first mate growl with frustration. He settled on curling an arm around Gil’s shoulder and slinking into his side, as though it were some kind of consolation, but Gil reveled in it anyway.

“We should probably start with what happened this morning,” Ben continued, earning a few confused looks from the others.

“This morning?” Uma frowned. “What happened this morning?”

“Well um…” Gil decided to cut in before they could take turns yelling at Ben, because the guy really didn’t deserve it. “So I know it’s been like, a few hours since you’ve seen me, but it’s been a um- couple months since I’ve seen you guys because…” He frowned, trying to think of the best way to put this. “Time travel? I guess. Anyway, I got sucked into the past and then when they were trying to send me back-”

“ _Time_ travel?” Mal pressed, brows furrowed in confusion. “Are you actually saying-”

“Mal.” Ben’s voice was calm when he interrupted her. “Let Gil finish.”

“Wait.” Carlos held up a hand. “Assuming this time travel thing happened, _why_ were you sucked into the past?”

“It’s not that important.” Gil shrugged. “A guy wanted to save his dad and thought I could help.”

“You mentioned that before,” Jane said, looking thoughtful.

Carlos turned to his girlfriend as though he’d never seen her before. “Did he already explain this to you?”

“Sort of?” Gil offered. “I did, but it was sixteen months ago. Oh yeah,” he continued when he noticed their confusion. “So when they were trying to send me back _here_ they um- didn’t do the calculations right, I guess? Anyway, they teleported me to the summer before Mal and the others got invited to Auradon, and I was stuck there for a bit.”

“Which is where _I_ met him,” Ben explained, getting a startled look from Mal. “Well – Jane, Doug, and I met him. It took a bit for Fairy Godmother to figure out how to replicate the spell to send him back to _now-_ ”

“Wait a minute,” Mal held a hand up. “Why did you go to Ben?”

“I used his bracelet as an anchor point,” Gil explained with a shrug. “Since I had two.”

“Yeah…” Ben looked off to the side, suddenly bashful. “I may have remembered that part, so…”

Oh. So _that_ was the reason for the random bracelet gifts.

“We recognized your ball outfit,” Jane murmured. “It was the same one you arrived in. So we knew you’d be teleporting soon.”

“Granted, we didn’t expect any of the other stuff,” Doug said. “But we knew we could potentially meet you that day. Or, you would meet us, I guess.”

“Wait, just _back up_ a second,” Harry snapped. “I mean- time travel? Gilly-” He turned to face Gil. “Did ye actually get sucked through time?”

“I mean… yeah.” Gil shrugged.

“I don’t get it,” Uma said, pulling off Gil’s bandana so she could thread a hand through his curls, scratching at his scalp. “If you’d met Gil before, why wasn’t he one of the initial kids you brought over from the Isle?”

“I um…” Gil flushed. “I may have given them a false name.”

“ _Two_ false names,” Doug sighed.

Gil shrugged. “I already knew what happened, so I just thought, you know, I’d help things along a bit.”

“I don’t understand,” Evie cut in. “What are you talking about?” 

“You told them your name was Carlos.” The young De Ville figured it out with barely any hesitation, gaze focused on the distance as the pieces fell into place. “ _That_ was why Ben picked me. It wasn’t because I was friends with Mal; it was because you thought I was Gil. That’s why you were so confused when I came to Auradon.” He frowned. “You didn’t even want me.”

“No, he wanted you,” Gil rushed to say. “He didn’t know it yet. I mean.” He looked to the other Core Four. “ _N_ _one_ of them knew it yet, and I couldn’t tell them, I just said that good things would happen. Just- eventually.”

Mal blinked. “Is that why you didn’t freak out over the love potion?”

“Yeah,” Ben allowed with a shrug. “Gil said things would be hard, but everything would turn out okay, and…” He crossed over to Carlos, kneeling beside the young inventor. “Carlos, you weren’t what I was expecting, but that doesn’t mean I’m not grateful that you’re here. We’re _all_ glad that you came to Auradon, and that we got to know you.”

Carlos seemed to fidget under the focus, but took the explanation with a flush, leaning against Jane’s side as his place in the world was reaffirmed.

“It explains so much,” Harry muttered, his gaze lost in thought. “Now that I think about it. The way princey over there kept staring at ye when we were holding him hostage…”

Gil blinked. “Um. No?”

Uma sighed, stroking his hair carefully. “Oh, he was staring alright. That’s why I had to send you off to keep watch.”

“I couldn’t help it.” Ben flushed, rising to his feet carefully. “I was glad things had worked out with Mal and the others but I didn’t know where Flynn- where _Gil_ was, and then I just ran into him and he didn’t recognize me at all.” His shoulders slumped. “I hated it.”

“That’s why you tried so hard to negotiate,” Uma surmised.

“Yeah,” Ben sighed. “After everything Gil had said, I wanted to get all of you off the Isle, but especially then-”

“You like him,” Uma interrupted, leveling the accusation when Mal was right _there_ , and yeah, Gil was still shaky from Jane saying _‘love you’_ , but that didn’t mean Uma could say that about a _king_.

A king who didn’t deny it. “I do.” Gil froze, didn’t know what to say when Ben continued. “I love Mal. I love all of you guys, and I think a good reason why I was able to see that possibility was because of Gil. Who thought nothing of sharing a bed or casual affections or just _liking_ us all, loving us for who we’d become even if we didn’t know it at the time.” He turned to stare at Gil, a slight wetness to his eyes. “When you looked at me, it was the first time I thought I could be king – and not just perfect, infallible, but _human_. Like I was worthy of leading not because of the love of my kingdom, but because I understood my shortcomings. You didn’t put me up on a pedestal; you liked me – all of us – exactly as we were.” He let out a gusty breath. “Of _course_ I love Gil, how could I not?”

Gil froze, felt heat build behind his eyes in spite of himself, because he was so sick of crying but he couldn’t help but want to fall apart, even with Harry and Uma holding him together. “Don’t- don’t say that, I’m not-”

“You’re worth it.” Ben crossed the room in eager steps, coming to his knees before Gil, taking one of his hands like it was easy. “Gil, it was so hard, seeing what I knew you’d become when you didn’t seem to see it yourself. It’s why I knew you and Jay would make good ambassadors, because you just came out of nowhere, and you knew all these _things_ , every dance and all these cultures and yet you still found joy in the smallest measures, I-” He grinned, watery and tight. “I _always_ knew you were worthy. So I trusted you when you said we would get good things. I knew you wouldn’t steer us wrong if you could help it, and you didn’t.”

“So what are you asking for, your majesty?” Uma’s tone was a sultry ploy, one that spoke of hidden violence should things go foul. “You want Gil _and_ Mal?”

“Idiot,” Carlos scoffed. “We want all of you. How have you not figured that out, yet?”

Harry blinked, obviously caught off guard, then was back to scowling up a storm. “If ye think I’m gonna be someone’s _consolation_ prize-”

“You were _never_ a consolation prize, Harry.” It was Jane that said this, Jane that crossed to the couch with a determination that didn’t waver even as she stared the first mate down. She sat next to him even as he shrunk into Gil’s side, not that he’d acknowledge it. “You would know that if you’d stop being so _stubborn_.”

“So this was it?” Uma asked. “This was the long play? You were wooing all of us, into your…” She gestured towards them.

Gil blinked, then felt his cheeks heat up. “Are they um- all…?” He looked to Uma.

She seemed confused that he even asked it, and all at once Gil felt dumb because apparently they all – _the seven of them_ – had been a thing and Gil had been sailing the world with one of those things and _hadn’t even noticed_.

“We know you’re a package deal,” Ben said. “And honestly, now that we know you, we wouldn’t want you any other way.”

Gil was confused again, but he said nothing as Uma deliberated, willingly ignoring the way Jane stubbornly curled into Harry’s side, her gaze begging him to fight her.

Eventually, Uma’s eyes settled on Mal. “And you’re okay with this?”

“I’ve _been_ okay with this, Uma!” Mal snapped. “We’ve been trying to woo the pants off of you this whole time!”

“And ye did that by sending one of us on a tour around the world?” Harry snapped, flushing away from Jane’s hands. “Was that supposed to make us feel better?”

“That um…” Gil swallowed, staring at the floor. “That was mostly because of me, since I failed… well, everything.”

“What do you mean, everything?” Uma asked, her voice soft and soothing, like it was when Gil did a good job.

“Just-” His flush darkened. “I failed all the entry tests for Auradon Prep. They were gonna have to send me to that remedial school but Fairy Godmother said if I improved in a year I could retake the tests so-” He shrugged. “I didn’t want you to look bad so I agreed to the trip, figured I could study there.”

“Look bad- _Gilly_.” Harry laid a hand on his cheek, cupping his jaw so Gil would look at him. “What ye didn’t know was hardly your fault.”

“And you could _never_ make us look bad,” Uma murmured. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I was just embarrassed, I guess,” Gil murmured, ducking his head shyly.

The other two had passed well enough; it was Gil who had gotten left behind.

“I knew that Gil would benefit from the trip,” Ben said quietly. “That’s why I pushed for it.”

“And in the meantime, you got to wooing,” Uma summarized with a drawl. “I suppose you didn’t like being separated from Gil any more than we did.”

“I know it can’t compare,” Ben said, a sort of uneasy response that seemed weird on the king. “You three have been together for a long time and I know what we shared can’t hold a candle to that, but yes, we did miss him.”

“We,” Mal said eventually, tugging at a strand of her hair. “Are going to have _words_ about this, later.”

“All of us,” Evie said, looking meaningfully at Jane and Doug – meaning the three couples (part of the big couple?) would be hashing out the whole ‘secret friend’ deal, which left Jay on his own.

Jay, who still hadn’t said anything.

Gil looked at him carefully, afraid of what he might find. “Did you… the whole time, were you just-?” He didn’t know what to say.

“ _Gil_.” It seemed to be the only thing Jay needed to open the floodgate, because in a second he was by Gil’s side too, nudging Ben over for space. “Did I know about the time travel? No, but we all agreed that we liked you three, and I wanted to go on adventures with you and I didn’t know- with the Moonstone-” Jay sighed. “I wanted you to be happy, but I knew lying couldn’t get you there, even if you thought so.”

“I just-” Gil didn’t know what to say, felt at a loss with all this. “I don’t want to be a prince, Jay.” Gil tried to keep his voice quiet, though he couldn’t stop it from shaking, and was grateful that Uma was there to hold him together while he felt his world quake apart. “I can’t do it.”

“You’re already _doing_ it, ya big lug.” Harry cupped his cheek in one hand, drawing Gil and Uma close to him. “There’s no proper way _how_. Sort of a perk, if ye think about it.”

“N-No.” Gil shook his head, his eyes feeling itchy and dry. “Anyone else would be-”

“ _Horse shit_ ,” Uma drawled, low and threatening. “None of them would be as good as you, Gil.”

“You’ve already done more than enough,” Jay added.

Harry tossed his head. “More than half those prissy boys back in Auradon.”

“They’ll be disappointed,” Gil murmured. “Dad was always-”

“Gaston _isn’t_ your father,” Uma pressed, her arm locked firm around Gil’s back. “And even he couldn’t stop you from being Gil.”

“Our light,” Harry added in a dreamy kind of murmur, stroking a hand across Gil’s shoulders before setting it there. “We’ll always be with ye’, Gil. No matter what.”

Uma stared at him with heavy eyes, a look so unyielding Gil thought he could get lost in it, gladly latched onto it as an anchor in this raging storm. “That’s a _promise_.”

“Do you-” He felt stupid for even asking, after all he had been given to this point, but he had to _know_ , with all the talk of wooing and love and whatever. “Do you like me?”

There was a distinct pause, and then Harry laughed. “Like? Gil, we love ye’.”

“…what?”

Jay blinked. “Did he not-” He scowled at Harry. “What the _hell_?”

“Gil,” Uma said quietly, taking his face in her hands. “Maybe we haven’t been the best at saying it, but we’ve always loved you.”

“What?” Gil felt a sob rip from his throat. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“We were waiting for ye to come to us, sweetheart,” Harry soothed, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. “We didn’t realize ye didn’t think ye deserved it.”

“‘C-Course I don’t,” Gil muttered. “I’m not-”

“Oh, sweet evil,” Mal hissed, and then she was just there, in his lap, the others crowding around as well. “Gil – you have always been and shall always _be_ worthy, because you’re sweet and kind and thoughtful and find joy in the smallest things and support us even when we’re lunatics,” she declared, gesturing her hand wildly. “And there’s a good chance that we may never be good enough for you, but you will _always_ be worthy of love, of respect, of being cared for, and if you’d be generous enough to give us a chance, we would like to be the people that did that for you.” She squeezed his shoulders carefully – a future queen looking on him like he was something, and it almost seemed to be true. And then she turned an annoyed look onto Uma. “Honestly, you hadn’t even claimed him?”

“Gil was one of the best damn things about the Isle,” Uma snapped. “If I asked, he would have come, but I didn’t want to make that choice for him. I wanted him to come on his own.”

“Of course, I’d come,” Gil sniffed. “You’re- you’re Uma. You and Harry were the first people that thought I was worth something outside of my uncle.” Who wasn’t really his Uncle, but then again Uncle LeFou had never been related to him, but had always been the source of love and support Gil’d needed. “You’re so pretty and brave and smart and Harry’s such a good fighter and passionate and for whatever reason you like me – of _course_ I would have come. I wanted to, even though I knew I shouldn’t.”

“Should have,” Harry muttered, turning his face to the side and- oh, that was a kiss. Harry was kissing him and it was just as fiery as Gil had imagined it would be. “Love ye, Gilly. Didn’t want to sully ye with my crazy.”

Uma scoffed. “You didn’t want to _‘sully’_ me either, and you can’t, you nimrod, because you’re not crazy.”

“Seconded,” Jane muttered, hooking her chin over Harry’s shoulder.

“Okay, so I’m sensing a bit of a recurring theme here,” Ben said, but he was smiling like he thought everything would be okay, and for once, Gil agreed with him. “And we’ll work on it together, that is-” He took his time looking at Uma, Harry, and Gil. “If you guys want to?”

There was a tense silence.

Then Harry scoffed. “Is there any point in askin’?”

“Yes,” Uma soothed. “Yes, we want to, that is-” She turned to Gil. “Do _you_ want to?”

Gil blinked, caught off guard by the question, that the deliberation would come down to him.

“ _Want_ to,” Uma pressed. “Not do you think you _should_ , or do you think you _deserve_ it – just, do you _want_ to?”

Well, when it was put like that.

“I want to,” Gil gasped, nodding his head in shaky movements. “I want to very much.”

“Hallelujah,” Jay sighed, letting his head rest against Gil’s knee.

“Kisses,” Mal said. “I demand so many kisses.”

Uma rolled her eyes. “Sure thing, your majesty.”

But then they were kissing so they probably weren’t as annoyed with each other as they let on.

“Um,” Gil said, but Harry was already tugging at his chin again.

“Ye heard the ladies,” he drawled, coaxing Gil into another kiss. “Come ‘ere.”

And Gil just… couldn’t argue with that.

It was a very eventful morning.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Ben and Gil strolled out of their quarters sometime after lunch with damp hair, having been distracted in the showers ‘catching up’. The others had offered to come for this particular part of the venture but Gil had waved them off, knowing he didn’t want to get too overwhelmed. Because he was going to be overwhelmed, that was a guarantee, he just wanted to control how much.

He also didn’t want to rub the tearful family reunion (if that was what happened?) in any of the other Isle kids’ faces, since aside from Mal with Queen Belle and King Adam and Evie with Queen Snow none of them really had any positive parental relationships.

Eventually, they made their way into a small lounge that must have been used for private get togethers, and Gil was surprised to see that aside from his newly-discovered parents, everyone was there. King Frederick and Queen Arianna stood next to his parents, and there was Varian and Quirin, standing next to an older gentleman with a crown that was probably King Edmund. The princess who he assumed was Ruby was hovering by the queen, fidgeting with the end of her thick braid with a look of worried concentration. She had come back home for the hero ceremony the night before, but Gil had only seen her from a distance. Because he was a coward.

Queen Rapunzel’s face lit up the moment she caught sight of them. “Gil, hi!” She rushed to his side, a literal bounce in each step, and it was weird seeing her this close, but her hair was so pretty and long and _she_ was so pretty Gil sort of just wanted to throw up.

“H-Hi,” he managed. “Thanks for um- taking the time to meet with us.”

“You _are_ the hero of Corona,” King Eugene chirped, following behind his wife’s steps with easy movements. “It’s our pleasure to talk to you.”

“We were actually hoping you’d meet with us,” Queen Rapunzel continued. “You don’t have to tell us the full story, but we would like to know more about you, Gil. If you don’t mind.”

Gil shared a look with Ben, saw Queen- _Duchess_ Arianna and Quirin nod, their support given and proven true, so even if his parents were disappointed, they’d probably still like him.

“A um- about that,” he said, messing with his glove. “I have something to show you, if that’s okay.”

“It’s more than okay,” the king said, and Gil wondered if he smiled like that, if it made people feel as at ease as the king’s grin seemed to.

Gil nodded, removing his bandana with shaky fingers. He hadn’t bothered to tie his hair back this time, so it hung loose and full around his shoulders, and Gil would have felt self-conscious but Ben was right there, relieving him of the bandana and offering a warm smile. 

It was okay. It would be okay.

He took one last breath, then pulled the compartment on his glove back to reveal the Moonstone. Instantly, he felt his hair react to the opal, singing in a joyful harmony as it filled with that strange light, and Gil would have felt shaken by that, but-

But the Queen’s hair was glowing too, _all of it_ , long and thick strands that fell to her ankles, and even Ruby’s was glowing- a bright reaction to the Moonstone that they couldn’t fight.

There was a distinct pause, like they couldn’t believe what they were seeing, and then the king and queen were moving forward as one.

“My baby,” Queen Rapunzel cried, tears pouring from the corner of her eyes. “ _My_ _baby_.”

“ _Son_ ,” a choked sound from King Eugene, and suddenly Gil found himself wrapped in their arms, tears pouring down his cheeks as well because they weren’t- they knew who he was and they didn’t _care_.

“You lived,” the queen gasped. “You _lived_. We thought- we were so sure. We hoped and looked, but we were so sure-”

“W-What happened?” Gil asked, because he’d been confused for so long, wondering how he could possibly be related to these people when he grew up on the Isle.

“Cassandra,” King Eugene growled. “Cassandra happened, it-” He hugged Gil closer, they both did, and maybe Gil should be afraid, but mostly he just felt loved. “We thought you’d died.”

“But you didn’t,” the queen murmured. “You were on the Isle. This whole time, you were on the _Isle_.”

“Blast her,” the king – his _dad_ – said. “Burn her to bits, we’re just- we’re glad you’re _home_.”

And that was it, wasn’t it? Gil was- he had a home. And before that home had been three people, and then it became more, but now there was no sense of listless wandering, of feeling like he didn’t belong because this was where he belonged.

“ _Dad_ ,” he gasped, and didn’t fear the pain it would bring him. “ _M-Mom_ , I um-”

He didn’t know what to say, and they didn’t seem to need it either, happy to hold onto him until the tears stopped, until all the pain had finally been cried away.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Eventually the tears died down, at least enough for the king and queen to talk again, and they all sort of just sat in a huddle on the ground while they explained exactly what happened all those years ago.

“I was pregnant when we journeyed to the Dark Kingdom,” the queen – his mom – explained, running a careful hand through his hair. “We wanted to wait for me to have the babies, but it seemed like my pregnancy and connection to the Sundrop had destabilized the Moonstone – like there was an imbalance or something. We didn’t realize until too late how catastrophic that would be for the Dark Kingdom, so we set out to see if I could ground it when things started to get desperate.”

“Before then, the Moonstone was mostly dormant,” King Edmund explained. “It only lashed out if someone attempted to use it. But then the earthquakes started and the spikes began acting up – forcing us to initiate evacuations while we waited for Corona’s aid.”

“We’d left the Moonstone alone before that,” Queen Rapunzel explained. “It wasn’t hurting anyone, and we had no use of its destructive powers, so we’d let it be.” She shook her head. “I wish we’d acted before then.”

“We couldn’t have known,” King Eugene said, reaching over to place a steadying hand on his wife’s shoulder before turning to address Gil once more. “When we got close to where the Moonstone was kept, Rapunzel went into labor. She gave birth to you and your sister on the road, and though I should have immediately brought both of you back to Corona for your own safety, we were so close, and Rapunzel didn’t want you out of her sight… it wasn’t supposed to be a dangerous trip.”

“We kept both of you with us,” Queen Rapunzel said, her eyes tearing up again. “We couldn’t have known. We couldn’t have known that Cassandra would betray us, would steal the Moonstone for herself. We tried to fight her off but she- she used the Moonstone against you- because I was holding you, I was-” Her hands trembled as she pressed them close to her chest, mimicking a cradle. “I was holding you so close, trying to protect you and then you- you dissipated, right in my _arms_.”

“She teleported you,” King Eugene said when she started crying again. “We thought she’d killed you, but she’d just- she’d banished you somewhere we couldn’t follow, all for the purpose of hurting us.”

“We kept it a secret,” his mom explained. “No one knew I was pregnant with twins; it was before the kingdoms really communicated with each other. So we um- just let it be known that I had Ruby on the road and covered up the rest, because it- it hurt so much, and just- it felt like giving Cassandra one more victory over us.” She swallowed hard, one trembling hand rising to cup Gil’s cheek. “We didn’t hide our knowledge of you because we were ashamed, Gil, or because you weren’t good enough. We just- it hurt so much, losing you, and we thought that was- that was the end of the story.”

“But it wasn’t,” Gil sniffed, feeling distinctly shaky himself upon hearing that. He’d been wanted. He’d been stolen out of her arms. 

“No,” his dad said, the words coming in a rush. “And thank goodness for that.” 

-:-:-:-:-:-

“I arranged for another guest,” Ben said later, after they’d managed to stop crying again and Gil had received an enthusiastic hug from his sister, and then from the rest of his family. “I asked Fairy Godmother to portal him in this morning.”

Gil blinked from where he was cuddled between his mom and dad – still so weird – wondering who else could be possibly missing. “Were you expecting someone?”

“It’s more of a moral support thing,” Ben explained lightly. “I thought you could use it.”

Gil didn’t get the chance to ask any more questions because then the door was opening, a guard standing aside to reveal –

“Uncle LeFou!” Gil jumped to his feet, sprinting across the room to hug his uncle. Ben had given him a phone as well when he’d set up Gil’s uncle with a new job post-Isle, so they could chat while Gil was traveling the world, but he hadn’t seen him in ages. Gil had a small stockpile of presents just for him too; hidden in the same compartment he kept his gifts for Uma, Harry, and Doug – his own private promise that he _would_ see him again.

“Hey, kiddo!” His uncle looked better than Gil had ever seen him. 

Now that he was finally free of Gaston’s toxic clutches, he was the jovial, kind gentleman Gil always thought he could be. He volunteered at the Auradon library on the weekends, had reading hours for the young Isle kids still struggling with books so they could enjoy literature too. Sometimes, he’d read for Gil over the phone. For ‘practice’, he’d say, but they both knew it was because he was spoiling Gil, and Gil loved it.

“Hey, um-” Gil grinned, wiping at his eyes. “So, apparently I’m a prince.”

His uncle blinked, then laughed. “Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.”

“It doesn’t? ‘Cuz I was real shocked.”

“No, Gil,” he said, _Gil_ , the name he had given him. “I think anyone who really knew you wouldn’t be surprised at all.”

“You-” Gil swallowed, thought he’d been out of tears but these were happy ones, fond ones because he loved his uncle so much. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Other way around, Gil.” His uncle grinned, squeezing his shoulders. “You taught me how to be strong again. And I know it wasn’t enough-”

“It was for me,” Gil rushed to say, because his uncle needed to know that. “It was _everything_ to me, Uncle LeFou. You know-” He grinned, wide enough it hurt his cheeks. “I um- I managed to heal someone? Actually-” He pointed over his shoulder to where Quirin and the others were pretending not to eavesdrop. “It was him. But like- long ago. It’s sort of complicated.”

“Sounds like a good story,” his uncle said, and it was an unspoken truth that Gil knew it’d be shared. Because now that he knew how to read, his uncle loved stories almost as much as Queen Belle.

Gil smiled. “Would you like to hear it?”

“Yeah,” his uncle said, fond and kind and _love-love-loving_. “I would.”

-:-:-:-:-:-

They made it through the story mostly unscathed, and by the end of it, Gil’s head was in his uncle’s lap as he supplied the beginning of the story, carding his fingers through Gil’s blond tresses.

“You came in on one of the barges,” his uncle explained. “Snuck in amongst the garbage. I found you – small slip of a thing with brilliant golden hair and I just – I knew I couldn’t leave you.” He frowned, taking a steadying breath as he looked at the rest of Gil’s family. “You don’t want to know what kind of stuff happened to unclaimed babies back on the Isle, especially in the old days. The magic from the barriers kept most of the young ones alive until they could survive on their own, but if any were unclaimed-” He swallowed. “It was like the barrier used the parents as conduits or something, and if a baby didn’t have a guardian- well, the less that’s said, the better.”

“You found me?” Gil hadn’t known that, but then again, he’d thought he was Gaston’s son until a few months ago.

“Yeah,” his uncle sighed. “It wasn’t lucky that you ended up there, Gil, but the timing was as good as it could be, on the Isle. Your mom-” He paused. “Well, Gaston’s wife-” The poor woman he’d taken before she’d finally died in Gil’s infancy. “She’d just miscarried his third son. There was… a lot of blood. I was looking for material to help clean up the mess, to treat her if I could, when I found you.” He gave Gil a small smile. “I couldn’t be your father, Gil. I knew that wouldn’t keep you safe, but if you were _Gaston’s_ son – well, I’d hoped no one would touch you. And I was sort of right.”

“Except for dad.”

“Right.” His uncle sighed. “Gaston might not have known about the miscarriage, but he realized you weren’t his far too soon. He thought your mom- his wife, had cheated on him and that…” His uncle shuddered. “That wasn’t something I’d anticipated.”

“He killed her,” Gil realized, heart clenching in his chest.

“Yes.” His uncle didn’t deny it. “I’m sorry, Gil. I tried to do right by you-”

“He hurt you too,” Gil said, and he didn’t even feel bad about it, just- it was the truth. “He hurt you as much as he hurt me. Maybe even more, after I left.”

“I picked the wrong side,” his uncle said simply. “I let my admiration cloud me from being able to see who Gaston really was. The Isle- I deserved that. But you didn’t.”

“ _No_.” Gil shook his head. “No, you didn’t. You barely did anything wrong-”

“I’m going to have to agree with Gil on this one,” Ben cut in quietly. “You were caught up as much as the rest of the townspeople, and they weren’t sent to the Isle.”

“Be that as it may,” his uncle said simply. “I’m glad I was there because I found you.”

“And I’m glad you were there too,” the queen said, tears pooling in her eyes. “We can never repay you, Mr. Proulx. Thank you for looking out for our son.”

“We’re forever in your debt,” King Eugene added. “And um- if you don’t mind, we’d like to consider you family too.”

His uncle looked humbled by this option, but Gil knew the offer was one he deserved and then some. “I’d um- be honored, your majesties.”

“Yay!” Ruby cheered, crowding in beside Gil to give him a hug. “Got my brother back _and_ a new uncle! This is the best day ever!”

“You know,” Gil laughed, surrendering into her hold. “I think you’re right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, guys!! We’re almost at the end! Thanks so much to everyone who has stuck around with me throughout this wild ride. Your support and enthusiasm really are a gift, and I am continuously grateful for both. 
> 
> Next update will be the last for this merry adventure – the final chapter will be posted along with the deleted scenes, chapter 15. If you’re in the mood for more Descendants goodness though, I will also be posting the first chapter of my next story, ‘Eat You Up, I Love You So’ – a Chad-centric poly-fic. 
> 
> Story notes:
> 
> I had to invent a surname for LeFou so I went with Proulx, which means ‘brave’, seeing as his first name means ‘madman’, so he’d come out as ‘the brave madman’. That’s right, this is the story where I came up with LeFou’s last name, though for the record he is the cute, Josh Gad version of LeFou.
> 
> WARNING – Perceived Death – in the fourth scene, Rapunzel explains Gil’s childhood. In the conversation, she states that she thought Cassandra had used the Moonstone to kill him, when she’d really just teleported him away. It is by no means graphic, but if you would prefer to avoid mentions of this, please look for the line that starts with this:
> 
> “We kept both of you with us,” Queen Rapunzel said, her eyes tearing up again…
> 
> You can jump back in at:
> 
> “We kept it a secret,” his mom explained.
> 
> WARNING – Referenced Child endangerment and miscarriage – The last scene. If you would like to skip the reference, skip the paragraph that starts with:
> 
> “You came in on one of the barges,” his uncle explained.
> 
> Everything after that is fine. If you would like to skip references of the miscarriage, skip the paragraph that starts with:
> 
> “Yeah,” his uncle sighed.
> 
> LeFou basically just explains how he passed Gil off as one of Gaston’s sons.
> 
> Until next time


	14. Rise Hand in Hand

“So,” Ruby said sometime later when they were gathered around a map of the Dark Kingdom as it was now. “This means you’re heir, right? Like, I’m totally fine with it, I just want to know when we’re making it official.”

Gil blinked, because he hadn’t thought of that. “Um… no. I mean-” He rushed to clarify. “There’s two of us, right? And there’s two kingdoms, so I was um- thinking, if I _was_ prince, then maybe I could be heir to the Dark Kingdom?” He looked at King Edmund when he said this. “Except maybe we could change the name, since it isn’t dark anymore.” He’d been thinking about this over the past week. “Maybe to Mondreich?”

“Mondreich?” the King echoed, looking thoughtful.

Gil flushed. “It means ‘Moon Kingdom’.”

“But it’s empty.” Ruby looked confused. “There’s no one there for you to rule.”

“Yet,” Gil clarified. He looked over to Ben carefully. “Now that the barricade’s gone, all the people who had to evacuate the Dark Kingdom can finally return if they want to. And um… with the barrier down and with the influx of Isle refugees…” He shrugged. “A lot of kingdoms are worried about overcrowding, right? About being able to safely distribute their resources, that’s what they say-” He aimed this to Ruby. “But really they’re just scared of Isle residents. I was thinking we could invite them to Mondreich so they could start fresh.” He turned his attention back to King Edmund. “At least the petty criminals, like my uncle. And all the kids. The um- the people who don’t quite fit into their home kingdoms. Do you think that could work?”

The smile his grandfather gave him was almost as dazzling as the one on Ben’s face; for all that he seemed unused to the expression. “I think that’s a brilliant idea, son.”

Murmured agreements echoed round the table, Quirin and Varian staring down at the map to start strategizing rebuilding efforts. Just like that, things seemed to kick into motion, filling Gil with a comfortable warmth, because maybe-

Maybe he could do this prince stuff after all.

Maybe he always could have.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“But we _are_ having a celebration, right?” Ruby asked later. She had taken to braiding and re-braiding Gil’s short hair (they’d determined that its growth had probably been stifled by the barrier). “Like a coronation? You have a really pretty crown,” she aimed that last part at him. “Or maybe you could make a new one out of that Moonstone stuff! Whatever you want, but we should definitely celebrate the fact that you’re back again.”

“Could we release some lanterns?” Gil asked, because he’d always liked that part of the Corona festival he and Jay had gotten to witness before everything had gone sideways.

“We,” Ruby began with all due seriousness, and Gil decided then and there that he loved her a lot, no matter what. “Are going to release _all the lanterns_.”

“Sounds ambitious.” Gil grinned, unable to fight Ruby’s enthusiasm, and wondered what it would have been like growing up with her. Wondered if his hair would go down to the floor too. 

On second thought, maybe it was a good thing he went to the Isle.

“That’s us!” his dad cheered, already making plans with Gil’s grandparents. “The royal family of Corona is forever ambitious!”

“We also draw a lot,” Ruby chirped. “Or, mom and I do.” She lowered her voice. “ _Dad_ _tries_.”

“Gil draws too,” Ben said, pulling out one of Gil’s small sketchbooks that the blond had filled more than a year ago from his pocket. He passed it over to Ruby’s grabby hands.

“I um-” Gil flushed. “I remembered that you guys were artists so I thought I’d try-”

“ _Wow_ ,” Ruby cooed, scrambling to her feet to shove the sketchbook in their parents’ faces. “Look. _Look!_ It runs in our blood! We’re so talented!” She abandoned the sketchbook with their grandparents to wrap Gil in an enthusiastic hug, sort of slump/falling into the hold. “We’re going to paint so many murals together. If you want,” she added. “You don’t have to-”

“I want to.” Gil wasn’t sure how he could find more tears, but somehow, he did. “I want to, please.”

“ _Please_ ,” she whispered. “I’m so glad you’re home, Gil.”

“Me too,” he said, pretending that his voice hadn’t cracked. “Me too.” 

-:-:-:-:-:-

“It’s weird,” Gil said later, when they were settling in for dinner because sometimes dramatic reunions took a long time. “So my birth name is Flynn because that’s what I told _you-_ ” he pointed to his grandmother. “But the only reason I told you that was because Ben _-_ ” He pointed to the guy he guessed was his boyfriend now. “Called me that back on the Isle when I first saw him, but he only called me that because Varian’s bad at math-” Down the table, the inventor made a noise of protest. “-and didn’t send me all the way back to this morning, but to like, the first time I met Ben.” He sat back in his chair, blinking down at his food. “So basically I’m named Flynn because of time travel.” 

“To be fair, that name was under consideration before your grandmother suggested it,” his mom offered. “We thought we could have our own Flynn Rider and Ruby Rose – two precious gifts for us.”

Gil swallowed hard, grateful that Ben held his hand under the table. “So do I go by Flynn now?”

“You can use whichever name you’d like,” his dad urged, genuine enough for Gil to know it was true.

“We could always make Gil your middle name, officially,” his grandmother offered. “That way you’ve got both at your disposal.”

_Both_ , so he could hold onto the one given to him by his uncle and the one given by his parents because he was a gift, he was _special_.

“Gil…” Ben squeezed his hand when Gil had stared at his plate for too long, but it was hard being given all of this _good_ after going without for so long.

“Sorry.” He took a careful breath. “Sorry, I um-” He looked at his mom. “My- _Gaston_ refused to um- name me. I guess the hair…” He gestured to it. “When I got older, he said he’d give me an actual name when I proved to be good enough to be his, but I… I never did.” He turned his attention to his uncle. “Thanks, for naming me. For giving me something to hold onto.”

“ _Gil_.” His uncle looked pained and tired all at once. “Believe me when I say the last thing you need is to be something Gaston would cherish. You’re perfect just the way you are, you always have been and-” He managed a tight grin, everyone hanging on his words. “When I found you, you were wrapped in a blanket with old Corona markings. It’s why I called you Gilbert in the first place.”

“‘Bright Pledge’,” his grandmother spoke up suddenly. “That’s what it means.” 

“It was a promise,” his uncle said. “To take care of you, to see you through to something good. And that’s yours, Gil. No one can take that from you, not even Gaston.”

“Flynn.” His mom had moved to hug him, his father wrapping both of them in his arms. “ _Gil_ – whichever you choose, you are _exactly_ what you need to be, and we’re proud of you. We love you.”

“Even if you’re a lying asshole,” Varian muttered as he closed in, because he apparently wanted in on the group hug business as well, and then _everyone_ got in on the group hug business.

And then Gil laughed so hard he cried.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“ _Flynn_ ,” Gil repeated somewhat dreamily as they walked back towards the royal guest quarters. “Flynn Gilbert Fitzherbert.”

“I like it,” Ruby chirped, bouncing along beside him. She had pledged to accompany him back to his room, but Gil suspected she just wanted to get to know her twin better, much like him. She’d already extracted a promise from him to meet with her tomorrow. “It’s classy. _‘Crown Prince Flynn Gilbert Fitzherbert’_ – it has a definite ring to it. The ladies will dig it.”

“Um.” Gil flushed. “So uh- I’ve actually already got um- some…”

Ruby’s smile was giddy with exuberance. “Oh my gosh, you’re already _dating?_ I’ve got to tell mom! Dad will freak out – he does that, but just like, pat his head until it blows over. It’ll be fine.”

“Well…” Gil wished Ben hadn’t stayed behind to work out coronation details. “So um- it might be complicated.”

“How complicated?” Ruby asked.

And. Well. 

They _were_ twins.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“Nine?!” Ruby hissed with an expression mixed with scandal and delight. “Wow, you have got some moves, bro.”

“And I’m pretty sure they liked me _before_ I was a prince,” Gil boasted, because he could do that, he could boast now. “Like, at least five of them. That’s a majority.”

“I’m so jealous,” Ruby groaned, flopping against his side. They had made a detour on the way back to the rooms to gossip in Ruby’s private garden. She used it for ‘inspiration’. “Though I get it, it took you like, _forever_ to get there.”

“Yeah.” Gil sighed. “But now that I’m like, surprise royalty, does that mean I just have to pick one to marry? Ben and Mal are getting married.” He let his hand trail in the fountain next to them. “If only two people can get married at a time, then Harry should definitely be with Uma.”

“Don’t make decisions without them.” Ruby flicked some water in his face, but it was actually sort of refreshing so Gil didn’t mind. “This is a conversation you should be having with _them_. And-” she continued. “It’s not even a conversation you need to have now. You don’t have to get married immediately, just choose one or a few of them to be public about dating and let the rest fall where it may. That’s what they’re doing, right? Like, the big poly thing is a secret?”

“Yeah.” Ruby had been the one to explain polygamy to him, and she thought it was _rad_ and that he was _rad_ for managing it, and Gil loved his sister a lot.

“Then do that!” she chirped. “You’ve got enough stuff to worry about. The media’s going to buzzing about _Prince Flynn Gilbert’s majestic return_ for a while, so like, use that to your advantage. People are literally going to love you just for existing. It will be good.”

“When you say it like that, I can’t argue with you,” Gil replied, grinning. “Thanks, Ruby.”

“My pleasure, bro.” Her grin widened. “ _Bro_. I’ve been wanting to say that all morning. I’ve been practicing too, was it good?”

“The best,” Gil assured her. “ _Sis_.”

“ _Yessss_ ,” Ruby hissed. “We’re going to be so great together, I can’t wait.”

“Me either,” Gil said. “And I was thinking-”

Gil sort of forgot what he was going to say because across the garden Jay was literally climbing over the wall, slinking through the shadows and pausing when he caught sight of them.

“ _Gil_ ,” he breathed when he got close enough. “Ben said you guys had already walked ahead of him, but then you didn’t show up and now Harry’s freaking out over you getting caught in another time loop or whatever.” He collapsed next to Gil, pulling him into a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay, but send a text next time.”

Gil blinked. He had a tendency to forget he could text things. “Sorry,” he murmured eventually.

Ruby stared at Jay with an unhindered sort of delight. “Did you just break into the royal gardens to _maybe_ find your boyfriend?”

“I would do a lot more than that,” Jay muttered, shooting her an unimpressed stare.

Ruby giggled. “This one. You should date this one.”

“He _is_ dating me.”

“She meant publicly,” Gil explained. “Like Evie and Doug, or Jane and Carlos.”

Jay froze. “I um… figured you’d want to do that with Uma and Harry.”

Gil frowned. “But then who would you be with?”

Jay didn’t say anything.

“ _Jay_ ,” Gil groaned, hugging his adventuring buddy/fellow ambassador/life-changing-friend to his chest. “No one’s getting left behind. We’re partners, remember, and you’re the only reason why this mess started in the first place.” Well, that and the time travel. “How do you feel about being Lord Consort one day?”

“W- _W_ _hat?_ ” Jay sputtered.

Ruby smacked her forehead with her palm. “Smooth, _bro_.”

“Nice use of ‘bro’,” Gil offered, beaming at her grin. “And you don’t have to decide now.”

“Good,” Jay said, seeming dazed. “Because I should not be royalty.”

“Look man, if I can be a prince – you, who has been far more charming in literally _every_ stop we made-”

“That is not true,” Jay pressed, looking at Ruby. “These are lies. Gil had everyone wrapped around his finger-”

“I practically fell apart in Ulstead,” Gil interrupted. “Got so scared of how fancy everything was _-_ ”

“You guys are literally trying to out-complement one another,” Ruby mused, her tone somewhat dreamy. “You are too cute. I’m taking a picture for mom.”

And then she did just that, Gil freezing long enough to give her a beaming smile.

“That’s it!” she snapped, holding up her phone. “Grandpa has the glower, dad has the smolder, and _you-_ ” She pointed a finger at Gil. “Have the _smile_ , which I think is pretty much better than all the other ones. Feel free to tell dad.”

Gil flushed. “It can’t be that good.”

“It is,” Jay assured him. “But we’re going to need to get that smile back to the royal guest rooms before Harry starts tearing the castle apart.”

“That’s fair,” Gil said, and it was nice, knowing he could turn to Harry and not be a bother, be legitimately _wanted_. 

-:-:-:-:-:-

In light of Ruby’s warning, King Eugene’s reaction to Gil’s new romantic interests was a bit predictable.

“Nine?” his dad said, tugging at his hair with a mild look of mournful despair. “ _Nine_ partners?”

“One of those is King Ben,” Lance – otherwise known as Uncle Lance, by Ruby’s standards – pointed out. “You should be proud of that. Your boy aims to win.”

“I’m just happy _he’s_ happy,” Gil’s mom said, pulling him into yet another hug. “Though if any one of them ever makes you cry-”

“I mean,” Gil interrupted, feeling a light blush dust his cheeks. “That’s going to happen, because we’re humans, and we mess up sometimes.”

“So wise,” Uncle Lance said, pretending to wipe a tear from his eyes. “I wonder where he gets it from.”

“Mom,” Ruby chirped, getting a bemoaning look from their dad that was followed by a grin, because Gil’s real dad was actually super cool. 

“Um,” Jay said, lingering awkwardly nearby, because he’d insisted he join Gil for this particular conversation. “I promise we’ll do our best to take care of Gil, and to make sure he never cries-”

“ _You_ ,” King Eugene interrupted, hooking an arm around Jay’s shoulder. “-brought our son back. You get every free pass in the world.”

A brilliant flush spilled across Jay’s cheeks. “It wasn’t all me,” he insisted. “I just-”

“Broke a promise to someone you loved,” Gil’s mom said, tugging Gil closer to Jay and his father. “Because you wanted what was best for him, even though you knew it might cost you his trust.”

Jay shifted his weight awkwardly, likely not expecting Gil’s parents to understand that. But they had, because they were the best. “I just… I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t, because Gil deserves the world but he would never ask for it.”

It didn’t feel true, but Jay certainly seemed to think so, and the very thought of it made Gil melt into figurative mush, because this person was _his_ person, and that was exactly where Jay wanted to be.

“I’m going to marry him one day,” Gil said to his mom, making both Ruby _and_ Uncle Lance drag a hand across their face.

“Bro,” Ruby sighed. “Propose first.”

“I mean…” Jay’s cheeks managed to flush darker. “There’s a um… chance we already did that in Atlantica.”

“Huh.” Gil blinked. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Jay sighed. “Mal made fun of me for it for weeks.”

“Well, I’m gonna _intentionally_ propose to you eventually,” Gil pledged. “But um- maybe after we finish school. And the whole coronation thing.”

“You could get promise rings,” Queen Rapunzel offered, making Jay surrender to his embarrassment while King Eugene laughed.

-:-:-:-:-:-

His parents loved meeting Harry and Uma.

Because Harry and Uma had been with Gil the longest, had protected him and taught him to fight, taught him how to be a part of a crew. Taught him to survive and keep his head down and encouraged his smiles, which was more than anyone else on the Isle (save Uncle LeFou) had done for Gil.

It was pretty neat, watching Uma walk in, face masked in her usual composed decorum of being an Isle leader and getting completely blindsided by an enthusiastic hug.

“ _Thank you_ ,” Gil’s mom gushed, only pulling back from the hug when there were tears in her eyes. “Thank you so much, Captain Uma. Thank you for watching after Gil when we couldn’t.”

“And thank you for giving him the gift of your love,” King Eugene added, a flushed and confused Harry in his arms. They had all sort of melded into a group hug. “We can never repay you, but we’d be honored to be your allies.”

“And further honored to be your family,” Gil’s mom chirped. “Please.”

Harry, who seemed hopelessly bamboozled, just sort of looked at Uma.

The captain managed a sigh, but she was blushing, so Gil knew it was all for show. “Okay, sure.”

Later, when Gil was recounting the meeting to Evie, the princess laughed.

“You know how Harry loves with his entire being?” she said. “He just realized where the pure sunshine that is you comes from. It’s an overwhelming thing.”

“Oh, yeah,” Carlos huffed from where he was lingering nearby. “Wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a crush on your mom.”

“ _I will not_ ,” Harry snarled from across the room, which likely would have been more intimidating if Jane didn’t seem so very determined to cuddle him into submission, which was very much Uma approved.

“He should,” Gil whispered as he got out his sketchbook, wanting to capture the sight. “She’s a pretty great human.”

“Yeah,” Evie said, smiling. “Seems you come by that honestly.”

-:-:-:-:-:-

Planning the coronation was… a whole thing. Honestly, Gil let the ladies have at it and sort of hid behind Doug. Which was fine, because the dwarf-kin definitely wanted to make up for lost time because he’d had a crush on Gil since he’d met him as Flynn, something that had only deepened over the months of trying to help him with school. 

“It was torture,” Doug admitted, flushed but smiling in Gil’s lap as they traded small kisses. “I just- I wanted to hug you so much, to tell you I knew it would all be okay. You’re so great, Gil, whether you know every kingdom’s dance or not. It’s the base stuff – your easy compassion and understanding – _that’s_ what makes you loveable.”

“Aw, _Doug_ ,” Gil flushed, urging Evie’s boyfriend (it was still hard to believe Doug was also _his_ boyfriend) into a gentle kiss. “Thanks for um… not giving up on me.”

“Never,” Doug said, bracing Gil’s face between his hands as he stared at the blond with an expression of absolute seriousness. “I would never do that, Gil. Even if we weren’t dating, even if you didn’t love me-”

“ _Doug_.” Maybe Gil had thought he was done crying, but then they had conversations like _this_ that ended in careful makeouts and he’d even eased a hand under Doug’s _shirt_ and the dwarf-kin had moaned and that was pretty nifty.

Evie had walked in about five minutes into that escalation, and for a second Gil had been afraid, but then she’d just parked herself on a nearby chair and watched, smiling all the while. Eventually, she moved in to give Gil tips on what really drove Doug wild, and between the two of them, the scholar was a panting, whining mess.

But he was also _their_ mess, and they got to clean him up, which Gil enjoyed a great deal.

Gil couldn’t hide forever, of course. Eventually he had to make _decisions_ , decisions about what foods he wanted and what flowers he liked and more than once he had just stood there feeling overwhelmed and terrified, scared he would make the wrong choice, one that would make him seem unprincely or make his parents look bad or somehow reflect poorly on Jay, who he was definitely dating in public. 

“It’s okay,” his dad would soothe, wrapping an arm around Gil’s shoulders while he felt dumb about _flower arrangements_. “It’s alright, there aren’t any wrong choices.”

“There are always wrong choices,” Gil whispered, frustration and anxiety clawing at his throat like tangible things.

“Not for this,” his dad insisted. “Not for your party.”

His grandmother eased in from the other side, until Gil was cuddled between them. “You should have seen your mother’s coronation. It was a mandatory no-shoe dress code, because we didn’t want her to feel out of place.”

Gil had noticed that his mother forewent shoes a lot of times. Or… all the time. It made him feel a bit more helpful. “…really?”

“Oh yeah,” his dad laughed, ruffling Gils’ hair. “And at _my_ coronation ceremony I requested twelve different types of chocolate-based desserts for no reason other than I could, and for all the town ruffians to be invited.”

“So,” his grandmother picked up. “You could say that unconventional coronation ceremonies are sort of the Corona standard.”

“Then um…” Gil sniffed, shifting his feet awkwardly. “Could Ruby get coronated too? Since we’re twins?”

His father’s smile was brilliant. “I think that’s a wonderful idea.”

-:-:-:-:-:-

With Ruby by his side, planning the coronation actually became fun. Partially because Ruby was sure to include Jay, Uma, and Harry, who would do things like insist upon Gil’s favorite foods when he thought they were too ‘low class’ and flush out his side of the guest list when he was too afraid to do so himself. 

It was Ben who demanded the band familiarize themselves with music from all over Auradon for dancing, and that in itself had Gil blushing, but then the king had pulled Gil aside for a small whispered conference.

“You drove me crazy,” he murmured into Gil’s ear, holding Gil close by his hips. “Watching you dance with everyone so gracefully. Watching you dance with _Chad_. I wanted to horde you to myself. We all did, really, and now I want a chance to properly claim you.”

“But…” Gil _knew_ his flush had darkened, he could feel the heat spilling down his neck. “I thought the um- polygamy was a secret.”

“It was before we got you guys,” Ben hummed. “But now we’re complete, and we’re not letting you go.”

Gil swore his heart must have melted. 

The day of the coronation was just- wow. Gil had been a nervous wreck for Jay’s hero ceremony but this was worse, because there was no doubt that the day was about him. He tried to distract himself with the others but they were all determined to dote on him – Jane pulling his hair back into familiar braids, Evie dressing him in a new outfit she had created from Dark Kingdom colors. Doug gifting him with ear cuffs and Jay giving shoulder rubs, Harry and Uma sneaking him kisses when he seemed overwhelmed. It was Mal that fed him pre-ceremony grapes because he couldn’t sit still long enough for breakfast, and Ben that helped him review the speech he had to give. 

It was Carlos who was kind enough to act as a buffer when things got to be too much, distracting Gil’s current keeper with some light conversation until Gil could center himself again. He still wasn’t super sure where he stood with the other teen, but ever since Carlos had learned about the lie Gil had told to get him off the Isle, he’d been nicer, Gil guessed. At least, more open? Doting – and wasn’t that something? To walk through the gardens with _Carlos De Ville_ holding his hand? Sometimes Gil still didn’t believe it. 

Part of him still wanted to run away. It seemed too good to be true, to have parents and grandparents and a sister, to have uncles and lovers and friends. It seemed like something that should go to someone more worthy.

But Gil was, by popular consensus, _worthy_. And maybe he hadn’t been raised to think that, but that didn’t make it untrue. 

So when the time came for him to finally walk up the aisle of the Corona Cathedral, he wasn’t scared. He was proud to walk arm-in-arm with his sister, proud to wear Evie’s clothes and so very happy he might burst from it, because _this_ -

This was what he had been fighting for, he just hadn’t known it.

-:-:-:-:-:-

He found Jane later during the reception, the young fairy set apart from the others for a small moment of quiet as she hid out on a distant balcony. 

“We lost each other for a bit,” Jane said out of the blue. Her gaze was fixed to the horizon, but she leaned against Gil’s side, as though she needed to be reminded of his presence. “When you left – everything about you had to stay a secret, and then Audrey came back and we went back to school and-” She shrugged. “The three of us, we just sort of separated. And I hated it; because you made me feel like a princess – _they_ made me feel like a princess but going on without you it just- it felt _wrong_. And then we thought everything would get better because you were gonna come from the Isle and then it-” She sighed, because it had been Carlos and not Gil who had tumbled out of that limousine. “I’m grateful that I got to know the others, got to know Carlos, but not having you there hurt so much, especially when Audrey was getting in a snit about how I _dared_ to like her boyfriend.”

She shrugged again, her gaze tinted with a sort of distant sorrow, like revisiting the memories hurt her even though things were good now.

“I felt small again,” Jane explained. “Small and lonely and ignored, and then Ben dumped Audrey for Mal, who he didn’t even _know_ when Doug and I were just-” She frowned. “We were _right_ there. I thought- it’s stupid, but I thought if I could get pretty maybe he’d look at me again like he used to.”

“You’re already pretty, Jane,” Gil said, hating that his absence had left such a mark on them. “I wasn’t lying about that.”

“I know.” She grinned. “I never doubted that I was your princess. I never doubted that you _meant_ it, but it was like without you, it didn’t work. _We_ didn’t know how to work because the magic was gone, so we just…” She trailed off with a sigh. “We reverted to what we knew. And we found those good things that you promised we’d find, but when I finally saw you in the woods outside Ben’s castle-” Her smile was brilliant. “I was so relieved, because even if you didn’t know me yet, you’d come home.” She leaned her head against his shoulder, staring off into the distance. “And then things didn’t seem so impossible after all.”

“You guys were all together,” Gil said, not an accusation, just- still trying to understand it.

“Mal’s idea,” Jane said. “Well, they were already sort of a thing without establishing it, but then they got Ben and Doug and just asked to share, because they wouldn’t give each other up, and that was when we realized we didn’t want to give each other up either, so I held off,” she explained. “Carlos asked me out and it was too weird, because I’d thought _you_ were Carlos for so long and I didn’t want to betray either of you, I guess, but you promised I’d get a good thing and you weren’t wrong. I got him.” She hugged Gil’s arm tight. “And then I got them. And I knew, at least I hoped, that I would get you too, one day.” She turned to look at him, _really_ look at him, and Gil’s chest felt light and invincible all at once. “And I did. _We_ did.”

“I love you,” Gil said, couldn’t _not_ say it even if he felt clumsy doing so. “You’re so kind and sweet and pretty and smart and I- I like being with you. I like being with all of you but I always- when you and Doug said I made you feel safe-”

“You did,” she laughed, and it was a little watery around the edges.

“It meant a lot. No,” Gil corrected. “It meant everything, because I thought here are these two people that don’t know me but they don’t think I’m just dumb. They trust me to take care of them. And I wanted to.” He turned so he could properly hold her to his chest. “I wanted to protect you. I wanted to keep you safe.”

“We knew you would,” she said quietly, eyes shining in the waning light of the sun. “We never doubted you for a second, Gil.”

“And I never doubted you,” he said. “Even though I do kind of doubt your taste.”

Delicate fingers moved to cup his jaw. “That’s just something we’ll have to work on,” she decided, and then she was kissing him, sweet and simple like she’d done with Carlos a million times, and Gil knew it.

He knew that he was home.

-:-:-:-:-:-

There was a lot of dancing. Lots of snacks. Lots of Gil being stolen for a waltz or polka and he knew every single one of them, enjoyed all the different foods from the lands they had visited over the past year. He rubbed elbows with the royals that had liked him before they’d known he was a prince, talking to Emperor Kuzco about the mountain excavations and General Fa about his progress with her suggested training regime and bonding with Queen Jane of Deep Jungle about his new love of drawing. There were so many people there happy not just for his parents’ finding their lost child, but those glad for _him_ , for Flynn Gilbert Fitzherbert – the explorer who was good enough to attend Auradon Prep now, who had more friends and family than he could ever hope to need – and he was grateful for each and every one of them.

At this celebration, he was re-introduced to the young royals he’d met at the Masquerade Ball he’d attended so many months ago. It turned out Agot and Kennet were his cousins, something Agot seemed ecstatic about before she dragged him onto the floor for a lively round of polka. He wasn’t smart enough to be in any of Fairuza’s classes, but she remembered his kindness and immediately snatched him up to run with her for student council as her vice president, and her brother Aziz would be on the Tourney team with him and Jay. 

As it turned out, sort of everyone took a gap year along with Jay and Gil because none of them were particularly comfortable with the idea of leaving others behind, so they would be going into their senior year together like, in Mal’s words, ‘ _the overdramatic assholes they are_.’

Gil was so overwhelmed by his bounty of good that he thought he’d seen everything, but of course that turned out to be wrong, though he didn’t realize that until he was taking another breather in a different, private corner.

“Um.” A throat cleared from beside him, and Gil looked up to see an older version of Chad Charming tentatively entering his secluded nook, the prince’s curls longer than they’d been before. “Hey, it’s um- me again. Chad James, I mean.”

He offered Gil a small wave that seemed uncharacteristically shy, but at this point, Gil understood the comfort of a trusted mask, and realized that maybe it wasn’t uncharacteristic so much as a glimpse of the actual Chad.

“Hey, Chad,” Gil greeted, returning the wave with a small flutter of his fingers.

For whatever reason, Chad seemed relieved by this, like he’d been expecting Gil to immediately drive him away or something.

“I um- I just wanted to apologize,” Chad said, making Gil pause in surprise. “What I said at the ball was… I shouldn’t have attacked you like that. There really isn’t any excuse for it. I was trying to uphold my grandfather’s teachings, but I… I’m starting to realize that maybe it’s better if I um- don’t do that.”

“…you were scared,” Gil realized, because now that he had some distance from the event, now that he was secure in his place in the world, he could see that. “Scared that my ideas would hurt Ben.”

“I shouldn’t have yelled at you,” Chad said, nodding in confirmation as he tucked a stray curl behind his year. “Just- the way he looked at you, and he was dating Audrey, and I thought…” His throat bobbed in a rough swallow, his gaze darting to the floor before he seemed to force it back up to meet Gil’s. “I thought I loved her,” Chad explained. “So I was mad, and then you were saying all that stuff which um- in hindsight makes sense – but at the time it was like Ben was cheating on Audrey with some guy whose ideas I thought might drag him down.”

“We didn’t- he didn’t cheat,” Gil said, deciding to excuse the one stolen kiss because it was a better story in the end, a misstep that Ben had immediately addressed and never tried to repeatedly act upon.

“I know,” Chad said, and that time it was Gil’s shoulders that slumped in relief. “That’s not the kind of person Ben is – just, I was dumb, was all. And I’m sorry.”

“I accept your apology,” Gil said, because he could see Chad meant it. “And thank you. I know this was probably hard for you to talk about.”

Gil didn’t know a whole lot about Chad except that the blond prince had seemed kind of shaky during the barrier celebrations. At least, that was something Gil realized now that he looked back on things. Before he’d been overwhelmed with their freedom, with the idea of finally escaping the Isle and worrying about holding Uma back, but now that he actually thought on it, he realized the blond had been forcing on a mask of kind smiles anytime someone looked at him but his posture seemed too tense for it to be true, that even though he stuck close to Audrey, he flinched any time she touched him.

It made Gil remember that Audrey had trapped Chad in that cabin of hers, that none of them had really chased after the blond or asked what she’d done to him.

Gil couldn’t help but wonder if maybe there was more to it than just getting locked in a closet.

“Are you okay?” Gil asked while Chad seemed to be struggling for some kind of response.

Of course, that didn’t seem to help much as Chad immediately tensed. “I’m um- I’m good,” he said, and even to Gil, that sounded like a lie. “I mean, I…” His shoulders slumped. “I’m an idiot, and now everyone else knows that.”

“Hey,” Gil said, reaching over to take Chad’s hand because he didn’t live on the Isle anymore and platonic affection was awesome. “You’re not an idiot for making mistakes, and you’re not an idiot for recognizing those mistakes.”

“Just…” Chad swallowed again, his eyes seeming to get a bit red. “I gave up everything for Audrey, thinking that she would fix everything, but it didn’t, and I… now I’m bothering you at your damn coronation, sorry,” he sniffed, wiping hastily at his cheeks with his free hand.

“That one you don’t have to apologize for,” Gil said, squeezing Chad’s hand. “Do um- you want me to go get your parents?”

Gil was still getting used to having his, but he could admit that they made most everything better.

Chad winced, and too late did Gil remember that Queen Ella had died like, years ago. “My um- dad doesn’t really talk to me,” he admitted. “Since I look like my mom.”

“Oh,” Gil said. And that just- that wouldn’t do. “Well, we’re gonna fix that.” 

“We are?” Chad asked, but he still followed Gil when the new prince tugged him back towards the crowds.

“Oh yeah,” Gil hummed. “My mom will have a thing or a million to say about that.”

If Gil was going to be a prince, then he was going to use his new powers to do good whenever possible, because Gil had been in Chad’s shoes before, had felt abandoned and alone, and Gil wasn’t going to let it happen anymore.

This was going to be a new start for all of them. 

-:-:-:-:-:-

Later, after Gil set his mom down the path of giving King Christopher a wakeup call he wouldn’t forget, a confused but hopeful Chad Charming tucked under his dad’s arm, he would find Jay sitting on the back stairs of the castle, reclining against the sun-warmed stones as he watched the sun set over Corona’s harbor, bathing the sky in a beautiful pink-orange glow. It was quiet when Gil sat next to him, conscious of the fancy ceremonial cape as he gathered it to the side. He still wasn’t used to all the formalities that came with being prince, but his mom had been queen for decades and _still_ didn’t wear shoes, so he didn’t feel too worried about it.

“It’s weird,” he began quietly, joining Jay’s vigil as the sun disappeared over the horizon. “I used to only have my Uncle LeFou and Harry and Uma. That was it.” There was also the crew, but they were more annoyed than pleased by him, more devoted to Uma than they’d ever be Gil, not that he blamed them. “And then I got you, I guess.” He hadn’t realized the whole ‘wooing’ thing at the time. “And Mal and the others.” It was still kind of weird to think King _Ben_ was fond of Gil, was in _love_ with him. “And that was more than I could ever hope for, more than I could ever really deserve, you know?”

“You deserve it,” Jay murmured, pulling his eyes away from the view so Gil could know he was serious, giving him the consideration he thought Gil was due. “You always deserved it.”

“I’m starting to get used to that, I guess.” It was slow going though, but he thought he might be able to get there. “But now, I’ve got like- parents and a sister and grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles and Varian and Quirin and-” He cut off with a sigh. “I have so much _more_ and I don’t even know what to do with it.” He dug his fancy boot into the smooth stone beneath them, wishing it would make more sense. “I guess I’m afraid of disappointing them all.”

Jay was nice enough to consider this for a moment before shifting over, leaning so that his head could rest in Gil’s lap. “Speaking as the guy who’s been traveling with you for the past year – you could never disappoint them. You make them happy just by being there, Gil.” He gave him a happy smile. “You do that for a lot of us.”

Gil flushed, feeling warm and tingly down to his toes. “I guess I never thought of it like that,” he admitted. “I spent so much time trying to be like my not-dad that I didn’t realize people would just like me.”

“Sorry,” Jay said, and he _meant_ it, reaching up to squeeze Gil’s hand. “I’m sorry we ever made you feel like that, that you ever _had_ to feel like that, because we’re all grateful that you’re here and that you’re you, and there’s no other way we’d like you to be.”

“Is that why you wanted to go sailing with me?” Gil asked, unable to help himself.

Jay grinned. “I couldn’t see it until I got off the Isle, but you’re light, Gil. You’re kind and enthusiastic and I was drawn to that like a moth to a flame. Also-” His cheeks heated in a light flush. “You’re pretty cute. How could I not want to travel with you?”

“Um.” Gil’s cheeks felt hot. “Easily? I dunno.”

“Not easily,” Jay huffed, sitting up so he could cup Gil’s cheeks between his hands, hold him close like he mattered. “Gil, I loved you before I knew you were a prince. Even if you had nothing, I loved you, because you are very easy to love.”

“Oh.” It was weird, hearing Jay talk about feelings, being all sharing and patient but he was here doing that with Gil, and Gil had the feeling he would _keep_ doing that even if Gil didn’t ask, until the end of time. “I love you too,” Gil said, and he knew that it was true, knew it without hesitation. “I was really scared when I thought you were going to die in Inca. Because like, it was going to be my fault but also you wouldn’t _exist_ anymore and I hated it, I _hated_ it, I know life’s not fair but that just- seemed too unjust.”

“Flatterer,” Jay laughed, tilting their foreheads together. “And it wouldn’t have been your fault.”

“Agree to disagree.”

“Unless you caused that cave-in-”

“ _Jay_ ,” Gil whined, using his very best pout. “Will you kiss me now?”

Jay sighed. “We’re talking about this later.”

Gil was pretty sure they would, but he was okay with that, okay with _now_ , because he had Jay with him. “Kisses?”

Jay laughed. “Kisses,” he agreed, then closed the distance between them like it was the easiest thing in the world.

And maybe it was.

Maybe that was what Gil had been missing all along – these challenges that seemed unbeatable. Maybe they were only difficult if he thought they were, and maybe if he threw that anxiety and fear away, he could just live.

Gil liked the idea of that – just living.

It was something even a prince like him could manage. A prince that had finally managed to find his way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, we did it! We made it to the end of this ride :) Thank you so much to everyone who stayed on this wacky journey, and double thanks to everyone who gave feedback, who subscribed or bookmarked or gave kudos. I can’t express how much your support means to me, but I can say that you make it a true pleasure to write for Descendants. I’m glad we have a space where we can bond over these characters and this fairytale world, especially in these crazy times ^_^
> 
> If you’re looking for some more Descendants goodness, I’ll be posting the first chapter of my next Chad-centric fic, ['Eat You Up, I Love You So'](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28816692/chapters/70675080) shortly. 
> 
> Story notes:
> 
> So – Corona is Spanish for crown, but Corona the fictional country is based on Germany, so I used German when inventing a new name for the Dark Kingdom. According to google translate ‘Mondreich’ is German for ‘Moon Kingdom’. I know, I am supes creative ;P
> 
> Shout out for the accidental coincidence of Gilbert having a Germanic name origin. I totally didn’t plan that but it worked out!
> 
> As a person who has siblings, I can honestly say that the words ‘bro’ or ‘sis’ have never crossed my lips in reference to them, but as these are long-lost, finally reunited twins, they can indulge in whatever cliches they want ^_^
> 
> I got Chad’s last name from the Rogers and Hammerstein musical Cinderella.
> 
> Of course I had to give Chad a redemption. Who do you think I am, someone who justly ignores him because the canon version of him makes a dedicated effort to always be the worst? For shame ;D
> 
> Until next time :)
> 
> -:-:-:-:-:- 
> 
> ‘‘Cause I got the wind in my hair and a gleam in my eyes and an endless horizon, I got a smile on my face and I’m walking on air. And everything life oughta be, It’s all gonna happen to me out there, and I’ll find it, I swear, with the wind in my hair.’ – ‘Wind in my Hair’ from Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventures


	15. Deleted Scenes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t tend to write a story totally in order, so below are the extra scenes I thought might make it into the final version of the story that ended up getting cut for one reason or another.
> 
> There aren’t that many this time around, apparently. Like, I thought there were a ton because I had to tweak and edit the end a lot. When I originally started working on this, I was going to have Corona’s lost prince be a well-known thing, but I thought bringing that up would give away that plot twist, so I had to change it, and thus some of the conversations. Still, the differences weren’t drastic enough to share twice, so there isn’t much, but here are the few tidbits that didn’t make the cut.

** Chapter 2 – Corona, Take 1 **

Notes: _I originally intended for Corona to be Gil and Jay’s first port of call. I was going to have them have some kind of diplomatic incident there (not featuring any of the royal family), and then have them visit later in the trip as a sort of redo. It never really panned out, and the ladies of Ulstead proved to be far more inspiring by way of minor antagonists, so I switched things up and cut this arrival scene, but still, here’s the brief snippet of Gil and Jay first making landfall._

-:-:-:-:-:-

Corona was bright and sunny in a way Auradon wasn’t, like the glow of the sun had somehow seeped into the very stones that made up the city and radiated outwards, until the whole thing glistened like something that could only exist in a dream, only even Gil’s imagination wouldn’t be able to think up a place like this. Corona was warm when they brought the ship into port and the docks were so… quiet? Calm, maybe, that Gil had to take a moment to just breathe. There were no rival crews lurking in the shadows, eying their ship as a potential score. There were no rotten, rickety planks that creaked in the wind, or smell of two-day old fish about to take a turn for the worst. The people that were there moved with purpose, too concerned with their own jobs to give any attention to Gil and Jay. There was absolutely nothing threatening about the scene, which put Gil even more on edge.

Jay did not share his concern. “Wow.” He let out a low whistle. “Nice.”

“Yeah.” It felt almost traitorous to admit as much, because even if the docks back on the Isle hadn’t been great, they were home, and this place seemed to spit in the face of that just by existing in all of two seconds. “It’s so clean. And look at the ships!” Now that the enthusiasm was returning, Gil latched onto it, because it was better than being scared. “There’s so many! And they’re all-” Jay had to pull Gil back before he could fall overboard when he leaned forward to get a closer look. “Do you think we could tour one? Or – ‘explore’ one?”

Harry would like that, to hear about how each country made their own ships- that was something Gil could give him. Maybe he could take pictures.

“Maybe,” Jay allowed with a shrug of his shoulders. “We’ll have to ask later, though. Looks like our ride’s here.”

“Right.” There was no mistaking the sleek car that came to a stop just outside the ship, little flags bearing the sun crest of Corona tucked behind the mirrors that stuck out from the car. Gil thought his dad was vain, but literally _every_ car had them. So weird. “Let’s uh- go meet some royal people!”

“Some _more_ royal people,” Jay pressed, as though Gil could forget that time he had helped kidnap the king, who for whatever reason thought Gil was good enough to give his own ship. “The first in a long list.”

_Ugh_ , don’t remind him.

“Hey, you said the limo had snacks when it picked you guys up, right? Do you think this one will too?”

“Doubt it,” Jay sighed. “I don’t think that stuff is standard.”

No food but always tiny mirrors?

Auradon was so weird.

-:-:-:-:-:-

** Chapter 12 – The campout **

Notes: _So somewhere near the end of Gil’s stay with Ben, Jane, and Doug in the past I was going to have the four of them have a sort of bonding campout thing. I didn’t really plan it out, or get beyond the scene below where they three of them finally break down and ask Gil why he covers his hair all the time._

_WARNING – Gil does briefly touch on some of the abuse Gaston subjected him to near the end, and if you’d prefer to leave this story on a high note, go ahead and skip this scene. It gets a little angsty._

-:-:-:-:-:-

“Why do you hide your hair like that?”

Gil had finally managed to pick the rest of the burrs out of his hair as they huddled around the campfire and had been in the process of tying it back, hand wrapped around the ponytail so he could shove it back under his bandana.

Jane’s question was an innocent one, but he found himself diverting his gaze anyway, finishing up the ritual so he could help Ben feed the campfire. “Um… I’m self-conscious, I guess.”

Jane frowned, her pink lips twisting into a small pout. “But it’s so pretty.”

“Yeah, well…” Gil felt his shoulders hunching and had to focus to relax them, because this wasn’t an attack, it was just- “I’m kinda dumb, so who knows why I do things.”

“Don’t say that.” Gil blinked, surprised by the steel in Ben’s tone, and looked up to find stubborn green eyes fixed on him. “You’re not dumb, Flynn.”

Oh. He had forgotten they hadn’t had this conversation yet.

“Sure, I am. It’s like… proven? A fact, I guess. I’m not being hard on myself; I’m just stating the truth.”

“But it’s _not_ true.” Ben looked like he believed this with every fiber of his being, and Gil ached for him, because he didn’t want to bring him ruthless disappointment. “So what if reading’s hard for you? You’re brilliant at other things, Flynn.”

“I can barely do math,” Gil counted off on his fingers. “I _still_ get letters mixed up. All of my reports have to be double-checked by someone else before I can send them. I’m not _‘_ qualified’ to ex- to um- do _missions_ by myself, and that is because I’m dumb, Ben. It’s okay, I’ve been tested. I know what’s up.”

“Whoever tested you was wrong,” Ben growled – like _beast_ growled. “There are other measures of intellect, Flynn. I mean, you were specifically summoned to help someone!”

“That was… more of a blood-thing than a skill thing.” And dumb luck, and stupid magic glowing hair. Ah man, now the most special thing about him wasn’t even the fact that he’d survived the Isle, it was his _hair_. Damn. “Ben, I’m not upset by this.”

“But _I_ am,” Ben snapped, stomping around the campfire until he could crouch next to Gil. “You keep putting yourself down and I hate…” His hand curled around Gil’s knuckles, seeming to tremble with intensity. “I hate that you think so little of yourself. That someone _made_ you think so little of yourself.”

Gil thought back to his not-dad – to days pulled from school so he could try to train and reach some kind of unattainable ideal. Of hunting and shooting arrows until his fingers bled and pulling and lifting anything he could find until it felt like he’d tear in two. Days of falling short, of Gaston trying to show him how to _be a man_ , and maybe the only real thing Gil had learned from him was how to take a punch without flinching. And that had only come with practice.

Gaston wasn’t his father, but it seemed like sometimes Gil would never escape his shadow.

He felt heat building behind his eyes.

“I’m uh… just gonna go get some more firewood,” Gil muttered, despite the fact that they had collected a good pile of the stuff already.

He pulled away from Ben’s hand, from Jane and Doug’s beseeching looks, and headed into the familiar darkness of the woods, following the strategy that had allowed him to survive. When approached with something he didn’t understand, he ran away. 

This time, it felt like more of a disappointment than anything else.

-:-:-:-:-:-

** Chapter Titles **

Notes: _For those interested, I pulled all of the chapter titles from an assortment of Tangled songs from either the movie or the animated series. Below is the list of where I pulled each title from. I recommend giving them a listen because they’re all solid songs, but if you’re actually interested in watching the series do that first, as some of the songs are a bit spoiler-y. Seriously, at least listen to ‘Life After Happily Ever After’. It takes place right after the Tangled movie, and is very catchy :)_

  1. Just Like I Dreamed They’d Be – ‘ _Just smell the grass, the dirt, just like I dreamed they’d be. Just hear that summer breeze, the way it’s calling me. For like the first time ever, I’m completely free_ ’ – ‘When Will My Life Begin Reprise’, Tangled
  2. Keep on Keeping On – ‘ _And so I keep on keeping on. My chances come and then I blink and they’re gone. Always overlooked unfairly, while pretending that it barely stings._ ’ – ‘Waiting in the Wings’, Tangled Animated Series
  3. You Set Me Straight – ‘ _Buddy, you’re my best buddy. When I feel cruddy, you set me straight, old mate. So, buddy, no matter what the fates arrange, you’re my best buddy, bud, don’t ever change_ ’. ‘Buddy’, Tangled Animated Series
  4. What a Huge Disaster – _Gosh, what a huge disaster, and everybody knew it. I had one job to master, and I completely blew it. I was so darn certain that I got this, but I’m not this, not yet. Who would have thought how far from getting this I could get?_ ’ – ‘I Got This’, Tangled Animated Series
  5. The World is Calling – ‘ _Next stop, anywhere. If you’re there I’m gonna be where I wanna be. Next stop, anywhere, and the world is calling, it keeps on calling, just think of all that we’ll share, everywhere_.’ – ‘Next Stop, Anywhere’, Tangled Animated Series
  6. Castles Made of Sand – ‘ _Everything I yearned for, everything I planned. All my sweetest memories were castles made of sand. Now that it’s all crumbling, help me understand. If none of it was really me then who am I supposed to be?_ ’ – ‘Everything I Ever Thought I Knew’, Tangled Animated Series
  7. Time to Step Up – ‘ _Now it’s time to step up or it’s time to back down and there’s only one answer for me. And I’ll stand up and fight cause I know that I’m right and I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready – Ready as I’ll ever be_ ’ – ‘Ready as I’ll Ever Be’, Tangled Animated Series
  8. Lose My Doubts – ‘ _So I chose to lose my doubts and lose my chains, lose each weakness that remains, now that I have nothing left to lose. Nothing left to lose_ ’ – ‘Nothing Left to Lose’, Tangled Animated Series
  9. Somewhere Warm and Sunny – ‘ _I’ve got dreams like you – no, really, just much less touchy-feely, they mainly happen somewhere warm and sunny._ ’ – ‘I’ve Got a Dream’, Tangled
  10. Nothing I Couldn’t Do – ‘ _Somehow we’ve managed to make it this far, it’s been one heck of a ride. There’s nothing I couldn’t do not with you by my side’_ – ‘With You By My Side’, Tangled Animated Series
  11. A Line Between – ‘ _There’s a line between the winners and the losers. There’s a line between the chosen and the rest. And I’ve done the best I could, but I’ve always known just where we stood. Me here with the luckless, you there with the blessed_ ’ – ‘Crossing the Line’, Tangled Animated Series
  12. Here in my arms – ‘ _And now that at last you are here in my arms, I won’t permit you to fall. I must protect you from all the world’s harms, we’ll live happily ever after, after all_ ’. ‘Life After Happily Ever After’, Tangled: Before Ever After
  13. More Than You Dreamt – ‘ _And when I return, and I’m more than you dreamt I’d be, maybe then you will realize that you never actually knew me at all_ ’ – ‘Let Me Make You Proud’, Tangled Animated Series
  14. Rise Hand in Hand – ‘ _We’ll rise hand in hand and rebuild this land, we’re ready to stand and roar! Will we give up? No, never! We’re stronger than ever before!_ ’ – ‘Stronger Than Ever Before’, Tangled Animated Series



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was all she wrote :)
> 
> Until next time


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